Vacancies rate down
The first sign of Sydney's rental market turning the corner, with the REINSW reporting the lowest vacancy rate since October 2018 for the month of September.
The decreased vacancy rate for Sydney to the lowest level in 12 months was driven by decreases in the middle ring (-0.9 per cent), the outer ring (-0.8 per cent), and then the inner ring (-0.3 per cent).
Demand for rentals tends to be higher in the warmer months, and the REINSW sees the improvement as being sustained for the rest of the year.
A look at the smoothed 6mMA vacancy rates by region below, however, shows that there is still quite a glut of rental stock to be worked through.
Moreover, there's still another blast of unit completions to come in parts of Sydney before this construction cycle tails off in earnest.
Elsewhere, the vacancy rate in the Hunter Valley tumbled to the lowest level in years at just 1 per cent, while Newcastle wasn't far behind at only 1.2 per cent.
Across the Illawarra region the vacancy rate declined in September, but with Wollongong still somewhat elevated at 2.7 per cent.
