Earlier this week, SQM Research released rental vacancy data for August, which showed that the nation’s vacancy rate fell to a record low of just 0.9%.
The decline in vacancies is broad-based, with every capital city market experiencing extreme tightness:
The next chart plots the sharp fall in rental vacancies since the SQM series began in 2005:
SQM Research managing director, Louis Christopher, tips that rental vacancies will tighten even further, which will continue to inflate rental prices:
“The national housing rental crisis has further deteriorated to unprecedented levels. And rental listings thus far recorded in September would suggest another fall in rental vacancy rates for the current month. I note the recent alerts and warnings issued by the various housing bodies as to what is happening on the ground and our data would concur with such concerning reports.
“Asking rents continue to rise across the country at a red-hot pace with combined national asking rents rising by another 1.6% for the past 30 days to 12 September. All capital cities are recording double digit percentage rental increases over the past 12 months”.
This is disturbing given separate data from CoreLogic showed that Australian rents soared by 10% in the year to August, which was the fastest rental growth on record:
Economist Stephen Koukoulas (‘The Kouk’) didn’t mince words when he said via Twitter that “Australia has effectively run out of properties to rent” – a situation that will only worsen given “the international borders are opening to high immigration, students and tourists”, meaning “rents will continue to surge”:
The Kouk is 100% correct when he says that “Australia does not have enough dwellings for its actual and prospective population”.
Where will the hundreds of thousands of new migrants live under the Albanese Government’s announced record immigration program?
The only conceivable outcome is an even tighter rental market, soaring rents, and increased homelessness.
Labor’s ‘Big Australia’ immigration push is an inequality disaster in the making.
