Brisbane’s March quarter inner-city vacancy rate at 4.4 percent

Brisbane’s March quarter inner-city vacancy rate at 4.4 percent
Staff reporterMay 17, 2017

Brisbane’s inner-city vacancy rate dropped to 4.4 percent in the March quarter, with regional Queensland also showing strong improvement, according to new data from the REIQ.

Antonia Mercorella, REIQ CEO said it is the normal cyclical nature of property – demand builds to a point where pressure triggers the increase of supply.

“The 2016 Census revealed that Queensland has moved from about 30 per cent of our population renting to about 50 per cent now renting and we can conclude that rental accommodation will always be in demand,” she said.

“Then supply starts to build and keeps going until we see that that demand has been met. Typically, supply will briefly outstrip demand before easing back and then demand will start to build again and so the cycle goes.”

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In the Brisbane LGA ,the 5-20km ring, vacancies tightened from 3.3 percent to 3.1 percent.

In Greater Brisbane, across Ipswich, Logan and Moreton Bay vacancies all tightened.

Antonia Mercorella said the housing market in regional Queensland is closely tied to these two industries and we can see that workers are being attracted back to these cities with the tightening of vacancy rate figures.

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Gladstone was the star performer in the March quarter data, falling 3.5 percentage points to 6.4 percent, its lowest vacancy rate since June quarter 2015.

Mackay fell 1.5 percentage points from 7.9 percent to 6.4 percent, its lowest level since September 2013.

Townsville fell 0.2 percentage points to 6.2 percent, the lowest vacancy rate since March 2016.

Toowoomba moved from 2.8 percent to 2.9 percent.

Pine Rivers at Moreton Bay is the tightest rental market in the state at 1.3 percent.

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