By Leith van Onselen

As shown above, vacancies rose across most jurisdictions, with the major East Coast markets registering the biggest rises and pushing-up vacancies nationally.

The commodities bust continues to weigh heavily on Perth, with the vacancy rate at 4.9%, up 1.1% over the year. Brisbane, too, is experiencing rising rental vacancies (up 0.7% YoY to 3.3%), whereas Darwin’s has retraced from elevated levels (down 0.4% YoY to 3.4%).

By contrast, rental vacancies in Melbourne (down 0.3% YoY to 2.1%), Sydney (up 0.2% YoY to 1.9%), Adelaide (down 0.1% YoY to 1.9%), Hobart (down 0.2% YoY to 0.6%) and Canberra (down 0.5% YoY to 1.2%) are relatively tight.

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

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

“The national vacancy rate has risen, which is not uncommon in November as the year winds up. This has taken pressure off rents in Sydney, though it is still the nation’s most expensive city for tenants. Asking rents too have slipped back in Perth with the continued effects of the mining downturn.

“In Brisbane, the vacancy rate has continued to rise in November following a rise in October, and with more unit supply coming onto the market in 2017, the vacancy rate could move even higher in 2017, taking further pressure off rents”…

Rental vacancies jump in November