Record low vacancies return
After the usual December seasonal spike in rental vacancies, all 8 capital cities saw their vacancy rates plunge in January 2025 to even lower levels than they had experienced before Xmas, according to SQM Research data.
Nationally the rental vacancy rates is all the way back down to a record low of just 1 per cent.
Brisbane recorded its second lowest vacancy rate since records began of just 0.8 per cent (only once before has the vacancy rate been lower in the Queensland capital - during the pandemic-induced melee of 2022).
Source: SQM Research
Smoothing out the figures on a 6-month moving average basis shows that Hobart is tightening up remarkably again with an almost unbelievably low vacancy rate of just 0.3 per cent, while Sydney is tighter again at 1.4 per cent, and Perth and Adelaide remain horrendous markets for prospective renters.
Capital cities asking rents reaccelerated to kick of 2025, rising by +1.6 per cent over the month, as more employers demand a return to the office.
Unit rents rose sharply in Sydney (+1.9 per cent) and Melbourne (+2.3 per cent), while housing rents were strong in Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney.
On the other side of the ledger, asking rents dipped a little across the regions, albeit not by much.
There appears to be no end in sight yet for the rental crisis, with high population growth and restrictive lending policies persisting into another calendar year.
SQM Research's Louis Christopher noted that rental listings in February to date are trending lower again, so there's no respite coming this month.
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