Rental crisis in Australia: Why finding affordable home is about to become even more difficult

Finding an affordable rental home has become a lot more difficult now that the national vacancy rate has fallen to a record low.

The vacancy rate is just 1.02 percent, after a slight decline in October, with most major capitals following the trend according to PropTrack’s Market Insight Report.

Renters faced increased competition for homes, while vacancy rates fell in both the capital and regional areas, said PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty.

“Renters faced even tougher conditions in October, with the proportion of rental properties left vacant falling to their lowest level ever,” she said.

Job vacancies in Sydney fell to a record low of 1.11 per cent, more than 60 per cent lower than in March 2020.

The number of available homes in Melbourne has halved compared to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rental vacancy rates are at record lows in Queensland, while available options in Brisbane are less than one per cent.

It’s even harder to find rental properties in the west, as Perth’s vacancy rate has remained below one per cent for 15 consecutive months, reaching 0.7 per cent in October.

Hobart recorded the sharpest decline with 0.18 percent fewer rental options, but remained the second easiest city to find a rental property.

Adelaide was one of two capital cities to buck the trend with a slight increase, but retained the lowest vacancy rate in the country.

Darwin’s vacancy rate increased by 0.68 percent to almost 2.5 percent.

Regional areas in each state were tied with their capital cities when it came to rental vacancy movement, with South Australia and the Northern Territory the only areas where rental housing availability increased.

Ms Flaherty said vacancy rates have been on a downward trend for more than three years and there is no end in sight.

She said the trend is “likely to continue” due to strong population growth and a slowdown in the supply of new homes.