THE rental vacancy rate in regional Victoria fell again last month, putting more pressure on people looking for a tree change.
Regional vacancies fell 0.03 percentage points month-on-month to sit at 0.99 per cent, according to the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report.
In the north-west Victoria region, the rate was 0.63 per cent, a drop of 0.11 percentage points in the past 12 months.
Over the quarter, regional Victoria was down 0.13 percentage points.
In Melbourne, the vacancy rate rose a slight 0.03 percentage points month-on-month, however, the vacancy rate remains incredibly low at 1.16 per cent.
PropTrack senior economist and report author Paul Ryan said conditions “deteriorated”.
“Despite the easing, vacancy rates have trended down for over three years following strong rental demand and a slowdown in new construction,” he said.
“Conditions will remain tough for those looking to rent in the new year period amid strong demand.”
There was no data available for the Swan Hill postcode or Swan Hill local government area.
Ray White Swan Hill selling principal Cameron Smits said there were no rental properties available through his agency.
Mr Smits said there was no formal waiting list for properties.
“Each property has independent applications … we would receive between 25 and 30 applications per property,” he said.
Mr Smits said the only thing that could be done to help alleviate the rental stress in Swan Hill was to build more houses.
“We are aware of a number of investments that will be built and become available,” he said.
“Being new, and the rising cost of building, it’s expected that these will start around $600 per week each.”
Mr Smits said the recent laws passed to tax vacant home owners wouldn’t have much impact in the region because homes in Swan Hill for the most part were already lived in.
“We don’t have bulk surpluses of empty homes,” he said.
“Swan Hill’s vacancy rate has sat under 3 per cent for as long as I have been in real estate.
“Supply and demand has continued to put strain on that number and now see it sitting at record lows.”
LJ Hooker Swan Hill also reported low rental property stocks, with just two properties available on their listings.
“Every property we advertise for rent in Swan Hill attracts several dozen enquiries and at least 10 applications, so the unsatisfied demand is quite substantial,” principal John Monahan said.
“We have a number of high quality tenants looking for accommodation at present so the market momentum is with the property owners.”
Mr Monahan said that while many people seeking rental accommodation felt the stress of rising costs of living, the real market issue was the lack of rental stock.
“Whilst there are many who struggle to meet the current rental rates, there is more than enough demand from those well able to pay the prevailing rental rates in Swan Hill,” he said.
Mr Monahan said the biggest driver of the home shortage in Swan Hill had been the withdrawal of governments from the housing market over recent decades.
“For many years, state governments built estates in towns and suburbs that provided rental stock for lower income families which then provided massive injection of supply into a relatively stable population growth rate,” he said.
“Now we have substantial population growth but no participation by government in providing housing stock. The situation comes as no surprise to anyone in the property industry.”
See also: Workers struggle to find homes
https://www.theguardian.com.au/property-news/workers-struggle-to-find-homes
