Floods wash-up affects Newcastle renters

Last month's floods in the Hunter Valley have had a significant impact on the availability of rental property in Newcastle and surrounding towns, with the vacancy rate for June declining to 1.7% compared to 2.1% in May.

Property managers in the area have reported that, due to flood damage, many tenants had to vacate properties they were renting and many homeowners whose properties were made uninhabitable also had to seek alternative accommodation.

“There is simply not enough available housing for rent in the State’s major cities,” said Cristine Castle, President of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales. “The situation in Newcastle shows that if anything goes wrong, we have a rental crisis. There is no room for error.”

Meanwhile, the tight rental market in Sydney has eased slightly although it has not risen above the 2% considered to be the minimum level of availability to deliver any flexibility. Vacancy rates in the inner city rose from 1.3% in May to 1.7% in June. Overall, the Sydney area vacancy rate is now 1.5%.

“Thank goodness there has been an improvement, “said Mrs Castle. “However Sydney is still a very tough market for tenants.”

Residential vacancy rates in NSW:

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