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It is slim pickings for renters in the Australian market with zero properties available in 10 locations, vacancies down to 1 per cent nationwide and signs the rental crisis will only get worse.
It is the tightest the rental market has been in 16 years and also coincides with record high asking prices for properties in all cities except Darwin and Perth.
The latest report from SQM Research revealed the number of properties available has halved in the past year to 36,868 properties in March.
Vacancies fell to the lowest point possible, at 0 per cent, in Mount Pleasant near Wollongong; Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains; regional Victorian locations Seacombe, Mount Evelyn and Gembrook; Adelaide's Keswick, Panorama and Regency Park; as well as Clarendon Vale near Hobart.
Available rental properties halve
| City | March 2022 vacancy | Properties avalaible March 2022 | Properties available March 2021 |
| Sydney | 1.6% | 12,748 | 25,257 |
| Melbourne | 1.9% | 12,400 | 27,300 |
| Brisbane | 0.7% | 2,457 | 5,407 |
| Perth | 0.5% | 1,204 | 1,889 |
| Adelaide | 0.3% | 580 | 1,524 |
| Canberra | 0.5% | 350 | 508 |
| Darwin | 0.5% | 176 | 188 |
| Hobart | 0.3% | 111 | 206 |
| National | 1.0% | 36,868 | 72,446 |
^Source: SQM Research, March 2022
Rental prices continued to climb across the country due to competition from tenants as restrictions eased, workers returning to the CBD and interstate travel, according to Domain’s quarterly rent report.
The report showed apartments were the property type of choice in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart with asking rent for units outpacing houses.
Brisbane bucked this trend with houses increasing at almost twice the pace of units with Queensland recording the strongest population growth of all states driven by young families, the job market and lifestyle options.
Australian rental prices hit record highs
| City | House Price | QoQ | YoY | Unit price | QoQ | YoY |
| Sydney | $600 | 0.0% | 9.1% | $500 | 2.0% | 6.4% |
| Melbourne | $450 | 1.1% | 3.4% | $390 | 4.0% | 4.0% |
| Brisbane | $500 | 4.2% | 14.9% | $430 | 2.4% | 7.5% |
| Adelaide | $465 | 3.3% | 9.4% | $380 | 5.6% | 8.6% |
| Perth | $480 | 4.3% | 11.6% | $400 | 2.6% | 8.1% |
| Canberra | $700 | 3.7% | 16.7% | $540 | 1.9% | 8.0% |
| Darwin | $610 | 1.7% | 10.9% | $500 | 4.2% | 16.3% |
| Hobart | $520 | 4.0% | 8.3% | $450 | 4.7% | 7.1% |
| Capitals | $508 | 1.8% | 8.6% | $448 | 2.8% | 5.9% |
| Regionals | $471 | 2.3% | 12.9% | $393 | 4.6% | 12.5% |
^Source: Domain quarterly rental report, Q1 2022
Domain's Chief of Research and Economics Nicola Powell said while houses were typically a safe bet for investors, apartments were producing better yields.
“High rental yields are likely to attract investors to cities such as Perth, Darwin and Canberra, with investors able to tap into competitive rental trends and use them to their advantage,” Powell said.
“In the current state of the rental market there are opportunities, it is worthwhile considering whether you are buying in metro or regional Australia, and the subsequent property type that maximises opportunities for return.
“For instance, the unit gross rental yields for combined capital cities increased by 2.3 per cent over the past quarter, however, decreased by 1.4 per cent for houses.”
Powell added while the results for investors were positive, for renters the tension was growing and supply was shrinking.
Rental crisis: the worst is yet to come
SQM managing director of research Louis Christopher said the rental crisis had deepened again and it was likely homelessess was on the way up.
“The recent monthly data suggests we are still not at the worst point of the crisis,” Christopher said.
“We were thinking at least regional Australia may have started to have some relief as people return back to the cities but that has not happened.
“Yet, when I consider the current election stances for the major and minor parties, there is a dearth of specific policy in addressing the issues surrounding housing affordability.
“Clearly, we are not going to resolve this overnight, but I do hope the various state and territory governments will ramp up their rental assistance packages in order to cushion the rental accommodation emergency we have here and now.”
