The share of rental properties listed on realestate.com.au for less than $400 per week has hit a record low as rental prices continue to spike, according to the PropTrack Market Insight Report.
The report found that the share of properties listed for rent below $400 per week nationally slumped to just 19.3% in September, down from 41.8% at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
“The shortage of rental stock across Australia is impacting all renters but it is acutely affecting lower-income households, as highlighted by the significant reduction in properties available to rent under $400/week,” said Cameron Kusher, PropTrack director economic research and report author. “While the total number of properties available for rent is 31.4% lower since the start of the pandemic, the number of properties available for rent under $400/week has tightened even further, falling 68.2% to sit at a record low.”
Capital city rental listings under $400 per week in September was just 16.4%, compared to 36.1% in March 2020, while the share of listings under $400 per week in regional areas was 28.2%, down from 57% at the beginning of the pandemic. Not one capital city market had more than a quarter of listings below $400 per week in September.
The cities with the lowest share were ACT, Hobart, and Darwin, each with less than 10% of listings under $400 per week. In Sydney, from one in five rentals under $400 per week a year ago, it fell to only one in 10 in September.
Meanwhile, Melbourne (-20.4 percentage points), Adelaide (-19 pp), and Brisbane (-16.6 pp) have seen the biggest drop in the share of listings available to rent under $400 per week over the last year, the report found.
“With supply of rental listings continuing to tighten and competition for stock heating up due to low levels of first home buyer purchasing and increasing migration, we expect the supply of affordable rental listings under $400/week to reduce even further over the coming months,” Kusher said.
