Already leading the way when it comes to vacancy rates, figures released by SQM Research this week have revealed that vacancy rates in both Darwin and Perth rose again over October.
According to the figures, vacancies rose by 0.2% to 3.5% in Darwin and by 0.1% to 3.8% in Perth over the month of October.
Over the 12 months since October 2014, the two cities’ rental markets have been at the mercy of the slowdown in the resource sector; over the year vacancies have risen by 75% in Darwin and 64% in Perth.
While Perth and Darwin are home to the nation’s highest vacancy rates, they weren’t the only markets to see vacancies rise over October, with Melbourne’s vacancy rate rising by 0.2% to 2.4% while Hobart’s vacancies rose 0.1% to 1.1%.
Despite the increase, Hobart still holds the lowest clearance rate for any capital city.
Vacancies fell in Canberra and Sydney over October, while they remained the same in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Australia-wide, the national vacancy rate stayed put at 2.3% over the month.
The changes in vacancy rates have also coincided with a change in asking rents, and unsurprisingly the biggest changes have occurred in Perth and Darwin.
Over the 12 months to October Darwin’s asking rents have fallen by 20.5% for houses and 12.9% for units, while in Perth, asking rents have fallen 6.4% for houses and 8.4% for units.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hobart’s tight vacancy rate has seen it record the biggest rise in asking rents over the 12-month period, with rises of 4.7% for houses and 11.1% for units.
