Sydney posted a 0.4% decrease in vacancies, from 3.6% on March 15 to 3.2% on April 15, according to the recent Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) Residential Vacancy Rate Survey.
The poll also showed that other key NSW reporting areas such as the Illawarra region recorded a 0.4% rise in vacancy rate. The Hunter region, meanwhile, remained steady at 1.7% for the third month in a row.
Year-over-year, Sydney vacancies climbed by 1.1%, while the Hunter and Illawarra regions both remained steady.
Trends in different areas
Overall, Sydney recorded a 3.2% vacancy rate in April – down from 3.6% in March. Inner Sydney and Outer Sydney both experienced decreases of 0.5 and 0.2%, respectively. Rental vacancies in Middle Sydney slightly rose by 0.2% to 3.3% – up from 3.1% in March.
The Hunter region’s vacancy rates remained steady. Newcastle, though, posted a significant drop in vacancies, falling by 0.7% after three months at over 2%. Vacancy rates in other areas in the region increased by 0.3% to 1.8%.
The Illawarra region experienced a 0.4% increase in rental vacancies, rising from 2.2% in March to 2.6% in April. Wollongong remained steady at 2.7%. Other areas in the region also recorded an increase of 0.7% between March and April.
The rest of NSW logged sharp increases in three key areas: Albury (up 0.7% to 1.5%); Coffs Harbour (up 1.3% to 3.4%) and the South Coast (up 1.1% to 3.7%). Most other areas, meanwhile, remained steady. Riverina recorded a 0.6% decrease from 2.6% in March to 2% in April.
The REINSW Residential Vacancy Rate Survey is based on the proportion of unlet residential dwellings to the total rent roll of REINSW member agents on the 15th of each month. The April poll covered 128,134 residential rental properties.
