Western Australia’s regional rental markets fared just as competitive as Perth from the point of view of tenants over the last month of 2022, as listings slumped, vacancy rates fell, and rental prices remained high.
Figures from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) showed tight conditions in the rental markets of the state’s major regional centres. Here’s how rental market conditions played out over December 2022 in each region:
Albany
At the end of 2022, the vacancy rate in Albany was 0.3% and only 17 properties were available for rent — this was well below the peak achieved in May 2021 at 136 rental properties.
Meanwhile, rental listings hit their lowest point since September 2006, when there were just five properties available for tenants to lease.
Over the December 2022 quarter, the median weekly rent was $395, which was below the quarterly record of $400.
Broome
Broome only had 38 properties available for rent at the end of December 2022, but the regional centre recorded a vacancy rate of 7.1%. This vacancy level seems high compared to Perth and other regions, but REIWA indicated that Broome is a “seasonable market and vacancies historically rise in the wet season”.
In December 2016, Broome hit a record high in rental listings, with 200 rental properties available. Meanwhile, the most recent low of only four rental listings occurred several times, at the end of June and July 2021, and May and June 2022. In April 2021, there were no properties for rent in Broome.
Over the December 2022 quarter, the region’s median weekly rent was $850, which is the current peak.
Bunbury
There were only 36 properties available for rent at the end of December in Bunbury, substantially below the high of 390 seen in March 2017. This was the lowest level since October 2010.
Bunbury’s vacancy rate during the period was 2.5%.
The region achieved its peak in median rental price to $475 over the December quarter.
Busselton
Busselton’s rental listings at the end of the December quarter were down to seven.
Given its limited supply, Busselton’s median weekly rent reached its peak of $600.
Esperance
Rental listings in Esperance went down to just five at the end of 2022.
Esperance had a median weekly rent of $325 last quarter, which was $40 below the high achieved during the same period in 2021.
Geraldton
By the end of 2022, only 38 properties were available for rent in Geraldton. This led to a vacancy rate of 1.5%.
The region’s median weekly rent went down slightly during the three-month period to $350, coming off the record high achieved in September 2022 quarter at $360.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder
Kalgoorlie-Boulder had the highest number of listings among major regional centres, with 68 properties available for rent. Still, it had one of the lowest vacancy rates at the end of 2022 at only 0.5%.
Currently, Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s median rent is at its peak, hitting $490 by the end of December 2022.
Karratha
There were 21 rental properties for rent in Karratha over December 2022.
During the three-month period to December, it achieved a median weekly rent of $750. Interestingly, this was $1,000 lower than the quarterly peak of $1,750 seen in the December 2011 quarter.
Port Hedland
Port Hedland had 12 properties available for rent at the end of December. This was slightly higher than the most recent low of five properties recorded in October 2022.
Meanwhile, Port Hedland’s median weekly rent was $750 in the December quarter, nearly one third of the $2,100 record set in the December 2012 quarter.
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Photo by Studio Australia on Canva.
