Vacancy rates rises while rents moderates: SQM
The national vacancy rate is at 2.4 percent up from 2.2 percent in May driven by a jump in Sydney vacancies, according to SQM Research.
SQM Research this week announced the number of national residential vacancies was 78,314 rental homes in June 2017.
Vacancies rose in Sydney to 13,215 in June, up from 11,153 in May, giving a vacancy rate of 2.1%.
That compares to 1.8% the previous month.
In Melbourne, the vacancy rate rose to 1.7%, easing off a 7-year low level of 1.5%, helping to alleviate the shortage of rental properties in that city.
The vacancy rate edged higher to 0.7% in Hobart, up from 0.6%.
In Canberra, the vacancy rate rose to 1.2%, up from 1.0% in May.
Elsewhere, the vacancy rose in Perth to 5.0% from 4.8% and in Adelaide to 1.9% from 1.8%.
The vacancy numbers may give some relief to home seekers, though rental markets remain tight in several cities.
This year has been marked by some big falls in vacancies rates in the big cities, but in June we saw more rental stock listed, which should give some relief to renters.
In Sydney, where there was a big jump in June vacancies, there has been some downward pressure on asking rents for houses and units, and also in Canberra, where vacancy rates eased.
Annually, asking rents for houses moderated slightly in Sydney to 2.6% and rents were down by 1.2% over the month to July 12.
The asking rent for a three-bedroom house in Sydney is now $725 while for units it stands at $522.
Asking rents for units were down 0.2% over the month to July 12, but were up 3.3% over the year.
Annually, asking rents for houses in Melbourne rose 5.9% and rose 0.2% over the month to July 12.
Unit asking rents rose 1.0% over the month to July 12 and 5.8% over the year.
The asking rent for a three-bedroom house in Melbourne now sits at $511 and for units it sits at $401.
In Perth and Darwin, asking rents are still falling due to the mining downturn.