As the number of vacant listings in the rental market continues to decrease, renters in Canberra continue to line up and, as international students begin to gradually return to Canberra, the situation for renters may only get worse.
According to SQM Research, canberra's vacancy rate tightened to 1 per cent in December, which is already very low, but since then, Canberra's vacancy rate has continued to tighten, reaching 0.7 per cent in January.
By last month, there were only 489 vacant listings in Canberra, compared with 689 in December and 579 in the same period in 2021.
The rental market in Tuggeranong, south of Canberra, is the tightest, with a vacancy rate of just 0.3 per cent, while rents in the area have soared.
In much of Canberra, already very high rents are still rising. Condominiums continue to drive the highest rents in Australia at an average of $540 per week, while weekly rents for single-family villas are already approaching $750, second only to the recovering Sydney.
Real estate brokerage companies report that in the process of open house viewing, from students, public service personnel, to defense workers, many renters are competing for a small number of listings.
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Act Real Estate Institute President Hannah Gill worries that the rental market will get worse, especially when Australia reopens on 21 February and international students return.
"This is really worrying because we've seen some people who can't afford the right property, can't meet the needs of their families, and factors can't be mitigated in the short term, so rents won't fall in the short term and the supply of housing will not improve," said Ms Gill. ”
"We are discussing rent pressures for many families and may even be homeless."
Ms Gill said the current difficulties lay in the type of rental housing, the style and location of the house.
"We can't just have apartments in downtown Canberra, we can't just have three or four bedrooms in the surrounding suburbs, we need real diversity because it meets the needs of our community."
Ms Gill said there are many families looking to find listings close to schools or to find listings that can keep pets, but there are very few such listings on the market.
"The market here is really struggling," he said. ”
A lot of people want to live downtown, but now have to find listings elsewhere.
While complying with COVID-19 safety requirements, a group of real estate agents organizing open house viewings must be between 30 and 40 people.
Ms Gill said it was really difficult and some people had given up attending weekend open house viewings.
Ms Gill expects rents in Canberra to remain strong, at least in the first half of this year due to supply issues.
In January, canberra's largest rent increase was Weston Creek, where rents for detached villas rose by 6.5 per cent to over $800 per week; single-family homes in Woden Valley rose by 4 per cent to $745 per week; and apartment rents in the Tuggeranong district rose by nearly 10 per cent to nearly $550 a week. Single-family villas in Tuggeranong are currently the cheapest to rent in Canberra, at $627 per week, but only if you can find a listing on the market.
Whether it's a detached villa or an apartment, neinan and neibei are still the most expensive areas for rent. Renters in the Inner North district are on average over $840 a week, while the Inner South end is $870. Apartments also rent over $600 per week.
Gungahlin is not close to the city, but the weekly rent of single-family villas here has exceeded $730, and apartments have reached $530 per week.
Belconnen offers relatively affordable apartment prices at $508 per week, while single-family villas are only slightly more expensive than Tuggeranong at $646 per week.
Across Australia, the average vacancy rate has also fallen to 1.3 per cent, the lowest in sixteen years, as vacancy rates in major cities return to pre-COVID-19 levels.
Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research Data Research, said vacancy rates fell more than expected in January, while listings in Sydney and Melbourne would decline further in February.
"All of this represents a serious shortage of rental properties, which has translated into a significant increase in weekly rents across Australia," he said. ”
"Market rents are likely to rise by more than 10% this year. In fact, the reality may be much more than that, as combined rents in Australia's major cities have risen by 5.2% in the last 90 days alone. "
Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on Riotact.
