Sydney’s rental crisis has continued to worsen with residential vacancy figures diving to their lowest level since August 2017, resulting in an “extreme shortage in stock” for many potential tenants looking to enter the market.
According to the latest survey by the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW), the vacancy rate for Sydney dropped to 1.7% – that’s around the same level as where it was five years ago.
REINSW data showed that the vacancy rates in the inner ring of Sydney was down to 2.2%, remained stable in the middle ring at 1.4%, and was up to 1.6% at the outer ring, news.com.au reported.
Vacancy rates outside Sydney, meanwhile, were more varied, with decreases in Hunter and increases in Illawarra.
REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said declines had been recorded in places like the Central Coast, the Central West, Riverina, and South East.
“REINSW members are telling us that they’ve never experienced such a lack of supply. The shortage of stock is extreme and there’s no denying that the rental crisis is real,” McKibbin said. “In the face of cost-of-living pressures, many tenants would embrace the opportunity to secure a more affordable rental property. However, despite rent increases, they’re choosing to stay put because they’re just not confident that they’ll be able to secure another property. It’s a very stressful time for tenants.”
Vacancy rates were up in places such as Albury, Mid-North Coast, Murrumbidgee, Northern Rivers, Orana, and South Coast, news.com.au reported.
