SQM: Melbourne’s rental market swamped with vacant properties

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SQM Research has released its rental vacancy data for October, which reported a small rise in the national vacancy rate to 2.1% from 2.0%:

The increase was driven by Melbourne, whose vacancy rate soared by 0.6% to 4.4%:

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Sydney’s vacancy rate is also elevated at 3.6%, whereas vacancies are fairly tight everywhere else.

SQM’s asking rents data show similar trends, with Sydney and Melbourne recording heavy falls year-on-year, whereas rises have been recorded across most other jurisdictions:

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According to SQM:

Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said, “Rental vacancy rates continue to remain elevated in our larger capital cities. While regional locations are still recording near zero rental vacancies. I believe the ongoing phenomenon, which started on the outset of Covid-19 lockdowns will in part reverse out once Coronavirus is behind us. But we are not there yet and there is also a large possibility that there will only be a part reversal as I believe many have used Coronavirus as a catalyst for a longer-term lifestyle change.”

Meanwhile rents continue to plummet on our inner-city locations. For those who will be coming back to inner city living, there are some bargains to be had”…

Melbourne continues to have the highest vacancy rate in the nation with an additional 3,863 vacant properties in October. The surplus of rental property is most acute in the Melbourne CBD where vacancy rates stand at 10.6%.

SQM’s separate weekly rental listings data also shows massive apartment oversupply across both Sydney and Melbourne:

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Apartment oversupply should continue to balloon owing to collapsing immigration and lower international student numbers.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.