Sydney rentals recorded a 10-day increase in time-on-market across almost 60 suburbs, with another 399 suburbs experiencing smaller rises.
Properties in the capital took an average of 32 days to lease over the year to April—up four days year-over-year, according to data from Domain. Vacancy rates, meanwhile, rose by 1.1 percentage points to 3.1%.
“[However], even though rental vacancies across Sydney have risen generally, there are still tight pockets. The northern beaches area and some desirable inner west areas … still have relatively low average days on market,” Domain Research Analyst Eliza Owen said.
The cooler rental market pressures some landlords to cut rents and improve their properties. Older stock often lingers on the market due to the oversupply of new apartments, according to Melissa Morgan, a property manager from Progressive Property.
The average time it took to find a tenant climbed by up to 42 days across metropolitan Sydney, stretching from 19 days in Dee Why to 61 days in Box Hill.
Freshwater followed after Dee Why on the list of most in-demand rentals with an average of 20 days. Fairlight and Manly Vale on the northern beaches came next. Birchgrove in the inner west was not far behind from the suburbs mentioned above. Manly Vale registered a decline in days-on-market.
Woolooware posted the lowest average in the south, at 22 days. Lidcombe and Panania were named the lowest in the west and Canterbury-Bankstown at 23 and 24 days, respectively.
Darlington was most in-demand in the inner city and east at 25 days, and Waverton was the most popular for lower north shore renters at 25 days.
Properties in Box Hill, Windsor, and Kenthurst in the north west, as well as Prospect, Constitution Hill and Kings Park in the west, took at least 50 days to rent despite lower stock levels. Prospect also recorded the biggest increase, jumping 23 days year-over-year.
“They had never been typical rental markets … but falling prices might have reduced renter demand in the areas as more tenants might be able to afford living closer to the city or had opted to buy,” Domain said.
