FROM THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF QLD
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says consecutive lifts in the state’s quarterly residential vacancy rate is a promising sign that rental conditions are improving.
The REIQ Residential Vacancy Rate Report for the June 2023 Quarter covers 50 local government areas (LGAs) and sub regions in Queensland, and comes as the state-wide vacancy rate rose to 1.0% for the first time since December 2021.
While the vacancy rate remains ‘tight’ (0 – 2.5%) across the vast majority of Queensland, over the June quarter it relaxed in 38 regions, held steady in three, and tightened in nine.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the movement over the quarter showed that we are crawling towards healthier rates across most of the state.
“We’re starting to see some early signs of the rental market starting to soften just ever so slightly, with vacancy rates showing small increases in the majority of regions,” Ms Mercorella said.
“It was too early to call in the March quarter, which also saw a slight lift, but now with back-to-back, quarter on quarter improvement, we can see some promising green shoots.
“There is still a long way to go for Queensland’s rental market to reach healthy rates, but these results are a step in the right direction with a little more movement and increasing opportunity and choice for renters wanting to get into the market.
“This is consistent with what real estate agents on the ground are telling us. They say there’s more rental housing stock freeing up, particularly in higher price point suburbs which have probably hit the peak of rent increases.
“Necessity is the mother of invention, and because people have been unable to find the type of rental property they are looking for, in the area they’re looking for, and something that works within their budget restraints, they are thinking outside of the box, adapting, and finding alternative solutions.
“These alternative arrangements include moving back in with parents where possible, moving in with other tenants in a co-tenancy instead of sole tenancy, and looking for units or townhouses instead of a freestanding home, or casting their net wider by looking at nearby localities with greater supply.”
Most improvements in vacancy rates were limited to a slight lift of 0.1-0.2 per cent which was the case across Greater Brisbane, including Brisbane LGA (1.0%), Ipswich (1.1%), Logan (1.0%), Moreton Bay (0.9%), Caboolture (1.1%), Pine Rivers (1.0%), Redcliffe (0.8%), Redland (1.3%) and Mainland (0.8%).
The exception in Greater Brisbane was Redland’s Bay Islands where demand for ‘island living’ continues to weaken – rising to its highest-ever vacancy rate of 6.3 per cent.
