Slight improvements fail to dent NSW rental crisis

In the key population belts, vacancies rose by just 0.1% to 0.9% in the ‘outer’ suburbs whilst in the ‘middle’ suburbs of Sydney, vacancies increased by 0.3% to 1.1%

“These isolated improvements won’t even make a dent in the rental crisis which is gripping the state”, said REINSW President Steve Martin.

“In fact the latest figures show a complete reversal of the improvement seen in regional areas in May with the June data showing rental vacancies on the decline in Newcastle, Wollongong and the Central Coast”.

Rental vacancies in Newcastle have almost entirely reversed gains made in May with rental vacancies dropping by 1.3% to 1.8% for June 2008.

Wollongong has also fallen significantly in June, down 0.7% to 1.3% and the Central Coast is down 0.5 to 1.8 percent.

“Rental vacancies are firmly entrenched in the low single digits yet the State Government does nothing to encourage new investment.
“Every week that the NSW Government avoids making a decision to remove land tax and stamp duty is another week that an additional 1400 people arrive on Sydney’s doorstep looking for a home”.

“There is only so much slack before the rental accommodation rubber band is going to snap.

“We need action from the government to reverse the downward spiral which is now a permanent feature of these figures”, said Mr Martin

Share or Recommend article

Marc Pallisco

A former property analyst and print journalist, Marc is the publisher of realestatesource.com.au.