- Australia’s rental crisis is worsening
- Several suburbs have no vacancy rates
More and more Australians in the grip of the mounting housing crisis are turning to single rooms to keep a roof over their heads, but there are now several suburbs in major cities where not a single spare room is available.
Demand for flatshares is booming, with an 11.2 per cent increase in the number of people joining flatmates.com.au – a website that connects renters with renters – in the past month, and an increase of 15 .6 percent compared to October 2022.
But the country’s crippling imbalance between housing supply and demand has extended to the single-room market, with several suburbs seeing no offers for spare rooms despite renters being willing to shell out big bucks for a place to stay.
More and more Australians in the grip of a growing housing crisis are turning to single rooms to keep a roof over their heads, but there are now several suburbs in major cities where not a single spare room is available
In Clovelly, on Sydney’s beachfront, there were 516 people looking for a room with no room available, and in Elizabeth Bay there were 188 searchers and no listings.
For the CBD, the website registered 139 searchers and zero rooms.
The desperation is not limited to Sydney: East Perth has 350 searchers and zero rooms.
And the gap in supply comes despite a substantial increase in how much people are willing to pay for a room, with most major cities seeing double-digit price increases for single rooms year-on-year.
Average room rent in Sydney has risen 16.7 per cent to $350 per week.
In Melbourne the price rose 17.4 per cent to $270 per week, while Brisbane rose 16.4 per cent to $275.
Adelaide is up 16.7 per cent to $245 and Perth is up 15.2 per cent to $265.
Room rates in Hobart and Canberra have remained stable.
Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley said the demand growth had come ahead of the ‘peak season’ and had exceeded the usual ‘winter slump’.
“It is clear that more and more Australians will be sharing their housing as pressure on the rental market and cost of living continue to decline,” she said.
Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley
Rents have risen sharply in much of the country as demand for housing continues to exceed available supply.
The national vacancy rate was 1.2 percent in August.
More and more homeowners are also offering spare bedrooms, in an apparent attempt to secure another income stream.
The number of new homes on Flatmates.com.au has increased by 38 per cent in the past year.
“A 38 per cent increase in property supply since the same time last year reflects the growing trend of homeowners renting out their spare bedrooms,” Ms Conley said.
“Half of all properties on Flatmates.com.au come from homeowners, the majority of whom are live-in landlords who rent out a spare room in their home.
“Despite this growing trend, more real estate listings are still needed across the country to meet the growing demand for shared living space.”