Rental situation at crisis point
“This is a horrendous – a real crisis point,” said REINSW spokesman Wayne Stewart. “For renters it is the same old story – there is nowhere to move to and because of the shortage, those who are already renting can expect to see their weekly rents continue to rise.”
Median rents in Sydney have increased by $30 a week in the past year and the number of rental bonds lodged with the NSW Department of Housing has decreased by 6.5%, confirming that those with a roof over their heads are sitting tight while at the same time paying more in rent.
Rental vacancies in regional towns and coastal areas within commuting distance of Sydney are also low: Newcastle had a vacancy of 1.4% in September, while in Wollongong it was 2.1%. The vacancy rate on the Central Coast was 2.4%, nearly half of what it was in July.
Residential vacancy rates in NSW:
| October 2007 |
September 2007 |
August 2007 |
July 2007 |
June 2007 |
|
| SYDNEY | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
| Inner (0-10km from CBD) | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| Middle (10-25km) | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Outer (>25km) | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| HUNTER | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| Newcastle | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 |
| Other | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| ILLAWARRA | 2.2 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| Wollongong | 2.1 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.7 |
| Other | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 3.6 |
| Central Coast | 2.4 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 3.5 |
| Albury | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| Central West | 4.0 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Coffs Harbour | 1.2 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.7 |
| Mid-North Coast | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| New England | 4.0 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| Northern Rivers | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Orana | 2.3 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| Riverina | 2.1 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 6.2 | 3.9 |
| South Coast | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| South Eastern | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 1.3 |
