Sydney only getting worse for renters
Vacancies have plunged below 1.0 percent for the fourth time in less than 7 months and now stand at 0.9%, down 0.1 compared to the previous month’s results.
But while rental prospects in Sydney are looking grim, the situation in regional centres has improved with vacancy rates in Newcastle and Wollongong on the rise.
In Newcastle vacancies rose by 1.6% to 3.1% for May while in Wollongong the rental vacancy rate rose by 0.5 to 2.0%.
“If the State Government needed any further evidence of the accommodation crisis, then it has it now”, said REINSW President Steve Martin.
The latest figures come in the wake of a State Budget which has yet again failed to address the key causes of the rental property shortage in Australia’s global city.
“The NSW Government seems blind to the mounting evidence that rental properties in Sydney will be virtually extinct if nothing is done to encourage new investment.
“The Premier and Treasurer again have again failed to deal with the single most important factor preventing investors from buying and building rental properties.
“The punitive tax regime in New South Wales must be relaxed if we are to see the kind of recovery in the rental sector required to meet the growing needs of Australia’s largest city”, said Mr Martin.
Residential vacancy rates in NSW:
| May 2008 |
April 2008 |
March 2008 |
February 2008 |
January 2008 |
|
| SYDNEY | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Inner (0-10km from CBD) | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| Middle (10-25km) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Outer (>25km) | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| HUNTER | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Newcastle | 3.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| Other | 1.9 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| ILLAWARRA | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.8 |
| Wollongong | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
| Other | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Central Coast | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Albury | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Central West | 3.0 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.8 |
| Coffs Harbour | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| Mid-North Coast | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| New England | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
| Northern Rivers | 2.4 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Orana | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
| Riverina | 2.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
| South Coast | 3.6 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 2.1 |
| South Eastern | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
