Prosper Australia has released the 2013 Speculative Vacancies in Melbourne Report, which shows a residential vacancy rate in Metropolitan Melbourne of 4.4% and a commercial vacancy rate of 22.7% (see below table).
According to the report, there is an estimated 64,465 vacant homes in Melbourne. Vacancy hotspots include: Southbank (22.5%), Rosebud (15.4%), Port Melbourne (12.8%), Essendon North (11.3%) and Carlton South (9.6%).
The survey measures actual activity based on water consumption data supplied by all of Melbourne’s water retailers: City West Water, Yarra Valley Water and South East Water: 1,469,514 residential properties in 376 suburbs, an estimated 94% of total residential properties in Melbourne as of 2012, and 125,162 commercial properties.
12,691 residential properties (0.9% of total) used zero water in 2012, whereas 64,465 properties (4.4%) used less than 50 litres per day – the cut-off used by Prosper to determine whether a home is vacant. According to Prosper, the residential daily per capita water consumption in Melbourne in 2012-13 was 161 litres per day, with average household consumption of 419 litres per day, more than eight times Prosper’s cut-off point.
The findings in the survey differ significantly from commonly quoted Real Estate institute of Victoria rental vacancy statistics, which are based on a narrow sample and do not include properties held by speculators (i.e. kept deliberately vacant).
In light of its findings, Prosper recommends that states implement broad-based land value taxes in order to increase holding costs and discourage vagrancy, and urges the Australian Bureau of Statistics to carry out comprehensive and compulsory annual surveys of property owners of both residential (owner-occupied and investment) and commercial real estate to gather data on long-term vacancies.
The full report can be dowloaded here.
