Rental market continues to fall apart

Australia has seen the largest drop in available rental properties in years as the market continues to tighten.

New rental listings across the country fell by 18.9 per cent in April with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth facing the toughest conditions in the nation.

Sydney’s new listings fell by 17 per cent in April and 5.1 per cent in the past year while Melbourne dropped by 20.8 per cent in the past month and 17.9 per cent in the past year, according to PropTrack.

The countries two biggest cities are also plagued by low vacancy rates, with Sydney’s sitting at 1.4 per cent in April and Melbourne at 1.2 per cent, according to SQM.

The largest falls were in Perth and Darwin, where April listings were ravaged by a whopping 22.2 per cent and 25.8 per cent.

Though there were increases in rental supply in some market like Hobart and Canberra, it was nowhere near enough to halt the diminishing number of available properties, according to PropTrack Research Director Cameron Kusher.

“There was little relief for hopeful renters in April, with new listings recording the largest monthly decline since 2017,” he said.

“The larger capital cities are seeing supply tighten, creating incredibly difficult conditions.

“However, pressures are starting to ease in regional areas and smaller capital cities as pandemic-induced trends begin to reverse.”

The divergence between country is “apparent” according to Mr Kusher, with the total number of properties for rent 20.8 per cent higher across regional markets and 16.5 per cent lower in capital cities.

Brisbane and Adelaide are not far behind their larger counterparts in terms of the drop in listings with a fall of 18.0 per cent and 19.8 per cent respectively.

Mr Kusher warns that the situation will only worsen if nothing is done to increase the supply of properties.

“Without an imminent increase in supply, the stock of rental properties will remain low, exacerbating the competitive conditions renters currently face,” he said.