The Sydney rental vacancy rate is down a whopping 38 per cent year-on-year. However, there are some suburbs where availability is up on last year. Picture: Blacktown Council
Finding a rental property has become more difficult recently due to low supply and high demand, sending rental prices up.
The tightening of the rental market started during the early days of the pandemic. City dwellers moved into regional areas, increasing demand and pushing up prices. Additionally, many renters in share houses moved into single-person dwellings to better isolate.
With more rental properties empty in the capital cities, worsened by the closed borders keeping out migrant workers and international students, many landlords sold their rental properties.
New properties in the development stage were hindered by the pandemic, causing delays in construction and material shortages driven by supply chain issues.
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Rental vacancies are up year-on-year in Schofields. Picture: Design Corp Architects
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Fast forward to 2023, and the return of migrant workers, students, and renters moving back to the cities has seen fewer properties available and prices rising in response to the higher demand.
According to recent data from PropTrack, only 1.58 per cent of rental stock is available for rent, down 32 per cent compared to December 2021.
Austral also has more rental vacancies than this time last year.
In Sydney, the vacancy rate is 2.06 per cent, down 38 per cent year-on-year. However, some suburbs have more supply than a year ago.
More rentals are available in the newer, high-development suburbs roughly 45km out of the city.
Marsden Park, Schofields, and Austral had the largest year-on-year increases in available rental properties in Sydney in December.
All these suburbs have seen large development in recent years and have excellent amenities and transport into the CBD. They are also more affordable than many of the suburbs closer to the city centre.
The median weekly rent in Sydney currently sits at $560, a 10 per cent increase from 12 months ago. Although Marsden Park is slightly more expensive at $683 a week, a unit in Schofields has a median weekly rent of $487.
New amenities are drawing people to Marsden Park.
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The median weekly asking rent in Casula, close to Liverpool, is currently $500 and Woolooware’s median is $595.
Inner city rentals are in short supply and weekly rents continue to rise, but looking further from the CBD can provide more options and cost less.
* Karen Dellow is a Senior Analyst at PropTrack
Story Credit: news.com.au