SQM Research has released rental vacancy data for February, with the nation’s rental vacancy rate remaining at just 1.0%:
Over the year, the vacancy rate has fallen 0.4% nationally, led by a 1.7% decline in Melbourne and a 0.8% decline across Sydney.
Meanwhile, asking rents continue to hyperinflate, growing by an insane 21.4% across the combined capital cities, led by extraordinary growth across Sydney (+25.2%), Melbourne (+21.9%) and Brisbane (+20.8%):
Commenting on the result, SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher noted “we still remain very concerned for the situation in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane where most international arrivals first land”.
That’s an understatement. Australia’s net overseas migration (NOM) hit a record high 400,000 in 2022 according to Westpac, which “helps explain the significant tightening in rental markets and sharp escalation in rents”.
There is every reason to believe NOM will hit similar levels again this year, given the record numbers of foreign students arriving.
In turn, rental markets will continue to tighten.
The Albanese Government’s ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy is an inequality disaster that will hit low-income tenants the hardest and push thousands of Australians into homelessness.
