By Leith van Onselen

As shown above, the commodities bust continues to weigh heavily on Perth, with the vacancy rate jumping by 1.3% over the year. Brisbane, too, is experiencing rising rental vacancies (up 0.3% YoY to 2.7%), whereas Darwin’s has finally begun to fall (down 0.6% YoY to 2.9%).

Perth’s vacancy rate is now the highest in the nation at 4.7%, almost double the national average:

By contrast, rental vacancies in Melbourne (down 0.5% YoY to 1.9%), Sydney (down 0.2% YoY to 1.6%), Hobart (down 0.7% YoY to 0.8%) and Canberra (down 0.8% YoY to 1.1%) are fairly tight.

SQM Research also released its asking rents data for the week ended 12 June 2016, which again recorded steep annual falls in rents in Darwin and Perth, which have held down asking rents nationally. Rental growth in Brisbane and Adelaide are also quite weak, whereas it is relatively strong in Canberra, Sydney and Hobart, and moderate in Melbourne:

According to SQM Research’s managing director, Louis Christopher:

“Rental vacancies held steady during the month, though rises were recorded in regional townships and cities with mining exposure. Perth, for example, continues to record higher vacancies.

National Rents were slightly weaker this month with a 12 month average change that is mirroring the CPI index. Going forward we do not expect any resurgence in rents for the foreseeable future, barring some cities such as Hobart, which we do expect higher rental growth rates due to a falling trend in vacancies.”

unconventionaleconomist@hotmail.com

Perth rental vacancies continue to climb