Key takeaways
The Australian rental market for housing appears to have eased over June 2024 with a rise in the number of vacant rental properties across the nation.
The number of rental vacancies rose by 4,845 dwellings to stand at 40,486 vacant rental dwellings, representing a vacancy rate of 1.3%.
Over the past 30 days to the 12th of July 2024, capital city asking rents recorded a minor increase of 0.1%.
The overall national change was a rise of 0.3%.
This increase represents one of the slower rises in market rents since the outbreak of the national rental crisis in 2021.
The total number of rental vacancies Australia-wide now stands at 40,486 residential properties.
Australian capital city asking rents have recorded the largest monthly rental falls since the outbreak of COVID with a combined dwelling rent decline of 0.5% for the capital cities over the past 30 days to the 12th of August.
Vacancy rates hold steady at 1.3%
- Sydney recorded a decrease in combined rents, dropping by 1.0% to $829 per week.
- Melbourne also recorded declines of 0.6% with combined rents falling to $632 per week.
In what will be a surprise to many, Brisbane and Perth also recorded falls in rents with Brisbane falling by 0.5% and Perth falling by 0.6%.
All up, five capital cities recorded falls in market rents with Hobart falling the most by 1.6%.
In contrast, cities like Adelaide and Darwin saw increases, with Adelaide's house rents rising by 1.1 and 6.4% respectively.
The falls in rents were more notable in coastal regions and well as some CBD locations. Queensland’s Gold Coast recorded a 1% decline for the month and Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula recorded a fall of 1.4% decline.
While Sydney’s CBD recorded a 1.6% decline in market rents.
Sydney
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $1,025.69 | -4.69 | -1.4% | 5.8% |
| All Units | $693.89 | -0.89 | -0.6% | 4.4% |
| Combined | $828.65 | -2.43 | -1.0% | 5.1% |
Source: SQM Research
Melbourne
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $738.86 | 1.14 | -0.8% | 7.2% |
| All Units | $557.51 | 0.49 | -0.5% | 5.5% |
| Combined | $632.41 | 0.76 | -0.6% | 6.4% |
Source: SQM Research
Brisbane
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $730.87 | -0.87 | -0.7% | 5.7% |
| All Units | $573.71 | 1.29 | -0.3% | 5.7% |
| Combined | $660.13 | 0.10 | -0.5% | 5.7% |
Source: SQM Research
Perth
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $779.59 | -2.59 | -0.7% | 10.7% |
| All Units | $620.95 | -0.95 | -0.4% | 15.0% |
| Combined | $713.46 | -1.90 | -0.6% | 12.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Adelaide
| Property Type | Rent $) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $656.99 | 2.01 | 0.9% | 12.4% |
| All Units | $498.98 | 5.02 | 1.5% | 12.7% |
| Combined | $602.85 | 3.04 | 1.1% | 12.6% |
Source: SQM Research
Canberra
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $778.74 | 1.26 | 2.0% | 1.4% |
| All Units | $559.50 | -1.50 | 0.1% | 0.8% |
| Combined | $659.64 | -0.24 | 1.1% | 1.0% |
Source: SQM Research
Darwin
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $680.66 | 9.34 | -0.9% | -5.1% |
| All Units | $541.09 | 9.91 | 13.6% | 14.2% |
| Combined | $597.69 | 9.68 | 6.4% | 4.4% |
Source: SQM Research
Hobart
| Property Type | Rent 9$) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $531.88 | -2.88 | -0.8% | 1.3% |
| All Units | $456.33 | -6.33 | -3.0% | 1.4% |
| Combined | $501.56 | -4.26 | -1.6% | 1.3% |
Source: SQM Research
National
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $692.00 | -3.00 | -0.4% | 7.8% |
| All Units | $544.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 7.5% |
| Combined | $623.28 | -1.61 | -0.3% | 7.7% |
Source: SQM Research
Cap City Average
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $825.00 | -2.00 | -0.8% | 6.3% |
| All Units | $623.00 | 2.00 | -0.2% | 6.0% |
| Combined | $717.47 | 0.13 | -0.5% | 6.2% |
Source: SQM Research
Meanwhile, national rental vacancy rates remained steady for the month at 1.3% which still indicates the rental market remains in shortage despite the recent falls in asking rents.
In July 2024, Sydney maintained a rental vacancy rate of 1.7%, with 12,123 rental dwellings vacant, unchanged from the previous month. Melbourne also saw a stable vacancy rate of 1.5%, with a slight increase in the number of vacant dwellings from 7,864 in June to 7,979 in July.
Over the past 12 months, Sydney's vacancy rate remained consistent, while Melbourne's rate has risen by 0.2% compared to July 2023.
Canberra recorded the highest rental vacancy rate of any state or territory at 2.2%, marking a slight increase from 2.1% in June 2024.
Perth and Adelaide continued to report some of the lowest vacancy rates, both at 0.7%, reflecting tight rental markets in these cities.
Darwin experienced a decrease in vacancies, with the rate dropping from 0.9% in June to 0.7% in July, indicating a further tightening of the rental market there.
Hobart showed a notable decline in vacancies, with the rate falling from 1.5% in June to 1.2% in July.
The total number of rental vacancies across Australia now stands at 39,701 residential properties, a slight decrease from the 40,486 vacancies recorded in June 2024, but still above the 38,864 vacancies in July 2023.
Vacancy rates in the Sydney CBD recorded a large increase from 5.0% in June 2024 to 5.5% in July 2024.
Melbourne CBD saw a slight decrease from 4.3% in July 2023 to 4.0% in July 2024, indicating a marginal increase in demand for rental properties.
Brisbane CBD continued to experience strong demand with a low vacancy rate of 2.5%. Canberra CBD experienced dramatic decrease from 4.0% in July 2023 to 2.7% in July 2024.
Vacancy Rates - July 2024
| City | Jul 2023 Vacancies | Jul 2023 Vacancy Rate | Jun 2024 Vacancies | Jun 2024 Vacancy Rate | Jul 2024 Vacancies | Jul 2024 Vacancy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 11,616 | 1.6% | 12,143 | 1.7% | 12,123 | 1.7% |
| Melbourne | 6,834 | 1.3% | 7,864 | 1.5% | 7,979 | 1.5% |
| Brisbane | 3,354 | 1.0% | 3,962 | 1.1% | 3,786 | 1.1% |
| Perth | 1,062 | 0.5% | 1,510 | 0.8% | 1,462 | 0.8% |
| Adelaide | 1,016 | 0.6% | 1,180 | 0.7% | 1,103 | 0.7% |
| Canberra | 1,250 | 2.1% | 1,265 | 2.1% | 1,312 | 2.2% |
| Darwin | 254 | 1.0% | 223 | 0.9% | 190 | 0.7% |
| Hobart | 498 | 1.8% | 425 | 1.5% | 335 | 1.2% |
| National | 38,864 | 1.3% | 40,486 | 1.3% | 39,701 | 1.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Comment
For the past 30 days, SQM Research has recorded the largest decline in capital city rents since the days of 2020 when Covid first hit the country.
The falls were broad-based, with the larger falls recorded in our larger capital cities and regional coastal locations.
It should be noted of course that rents are still very high and this retracement is minor compared to the massive rise in rents recorded around the country since 2021.
And it should also be stated that the rental crisis is still not yet over as we have recorded an ongoing low national rental vacancy rate of just 1.3%.
But still, this will be somewhat welcoming to tenants and as a research house, we do believe the market rental rises of 10 to 20% per annum are now over.”
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