According to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales’ (REINSW) August Vacancy Rate Survey, the city wide vacancy rate fell by 0.2% to 1.8% during the month.
While the city wide vacancy rate dropped, it was a month of mixed results for the city’s regions.
The middle Sydney region experienced a decrease of 0.2% to 1.5%, while outer Sydney saw no change at 1.6% and inner Sydney saw a 0.1% increase to 2.2%.
Malcolm Gunning, REINSW president, said the figures reflect the fact that housing stock is steadily coming online in the centre of the city and tenants are placing an increased emphasis on affordability.
“The inner city is still showing signs of supply slowly entering the marketplace. This is the area where the first developments started and it is really beginning to mature,” Gunning said.
“Middle Sydney’s fall highlights that tenants are seeking affordability, while the outer areas are where the jobs are,” he said.
Across the state, the Illawarra still has the lowest vacancy rate of any region at 1.6% after a decrease in August of 0.1%, led by a fall of 0.5% to 0.9% in Wollongong.
A solid decrease of 0.8% to 3% in Newcastle helped the Hunter to record a decrease over August of 0.6% to 3.1%.
New England’s vacancy rate also dropped 0.6%, but it still has the state’s highest rate at 4%, while Albury’s rate dropped 0.3% to 1.9%.
