Rental vacancies plunged from 58k to under 48k in January.
The national vacancy rate plummeted from 1.6 per cent to just 1.3 per cent in the month.
This is miles below the 2 per cent seen a year earlier, and the lowest national vacancy rate in 16 years.
SQM reported that asking rents for capital cities rose 7.5 per cent over the year to January, and expects rents to rise at a double-digit pace shortly (potentially much more).
Mind you, the cost of getting tradies out and maintenance done for landlords has increased by more like 50 per cent in many cases.
Vacancies have actually continued to fall in February, according to SQM, notably in Sydney and Melbourne, with Central Business District vacancies now in decline as Aussies return to the office, and new arrivals come into the country.
In fact, SQM reported that CBD vacancies are already below pre-pandemic levels, and well below pre-pandemic levels in Melbourne's case.
Only Darwin has vacancies trending higher at this point.
Rental crisis incoming
As the national borders reopen rental crisis stories seem increasingly inevitable.
It's often been absurdly difficult for landlords to get loans in recent years.
There must be countless examples of people like me who would have quite willingly provided additional rental stock, but have just given up due to the reams of paperwork and frequently pointless hurdles involved.
I have an LVR of about 25 per cent, but have spent the past six months signing stat decs, sworn affidavits, and practically signing away the in-laws just to try and access a tiny line of credit...alas, no dice!
It's all just becoming way too hard for portfolio investors, as personal responsibility is no longer a thing in the present borrowing environment for investors.
A few more months of plunging vacancies of this magnitude and we'll be at zero available rental stock.
Sigh.
The Reserve Bank found in 2017 that immigration from overseas has little impact on the housing turnover rate because most new arrivals - especially international students - are renters initially.
