Rent shortage continues in the SA region

According to the PropTrack Market Insight Report released yesterday, rental vacancy rates in regional South Australia fell in July, making it the lowest vacancy rate in the regional markets.

The report found that the South Australia region saw a month-on-month decline of 0.11 percentage points (ppt) to 1.12%.

However, Anne Flaherty, senior economist at PropTrack, said the number of vacant rental units had improved over the past year, rising 0.21 percentage points since July 2023.

Ms Flaherty said that while conditions for Australia’s renters remained incredibly tough, rental supply had improved over the past three months, with the national vacancy rate increasing by 0.18 percentage points to 1.42 per cent.

“The biggest improvements were in the capital cities. In six of the eight cities, the vacancy rate increased over the quarter,” she said.

“The increase in vacancy rates in capital cities was supported by increased investor activity. The number of new loan commitments to investors increased by 25% in the June quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

“The increased activity of investors has led to more rental properties coming onto the market, thus counteracting the increase in demand caused by population growth.”:

In the South Australian region, the vacancy rate decreased by 0.11 percentage points over the month and is now at 1.12%, the lowest rental vacancy rate in the regional market.

However, the vacancy rate in the South Australian region increased by 0.21 percentage points over the year, representing the second largest annual increase of all markets.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, vacancy rates in the South Australian region have fallen by 56%.

Key findings

• The nationwide rental vacancy rate remained relatively stable in July, falling by only 0.01 percentage points to 1.42%.

• The slight decrease in the vacancy rate was due to the regional markets, which recorded a decrease of 0.04 percentage points compared to the previous month to 1.28%. In the capital cities, however, the rate remained stable at 1.47% in July.

• Sydney’s vacancy rate remained unchanged at 1.68% during the month, up 0.36 percentage points from three months ago.

• Canberra’s vacancy rate rose 0.20 percentage points to 2% in July, the city’s highest vacancy rate in 12 months.

• Melbourne was the only other capital city where the vacancy rate increased in July, by 0.05 percentage points to 1.56%.

• Darwin (1.03%) has overtaken Adelaide (1.06%) to have the lowest vacancy rate of any capital city, falling 0.15 percentage points over the month.

• Hobart recorded the largest decline in vacancy rates of any capital city in July, down 0.17 percentage points to 1.11%.

• Brisbane and Perth recorded more moderate declines, reaching 1.16% and 1.26% respectively.