Adelaide tenants faced tightest rental market in the country

Adelaide’s rental market remains one of the tightest in the country despite its vacancy rate once again easing slightly over the past month.

New PropTrack data shows the city’s vacancy rate, which measures the percentage of rental properties that are empty and available for lease, rose by 0.07 percentage points in June to 1.13 per cent – remaining the tightest rental market in the country.

In the past quarter, Adelaide’s vacancy rate rose by 0.29 percentage points, while over the past year, the city recorded a 0.23 percentage point rise in its vacancy rate.

This marked the second greatest annual increase in vacancy of the capital city markets, behind Perth, which saw a vacancy rate rise of 0.27 percentage points to 1.25 per cent.

In regional SA, the vacancy rate rose by 0.02 percentage points over the month to sit at 1.22 per cent.

Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, regional SA has recorded a 52 per cent fall in vacant rentals.

PROPTRACK VACANCY RATES – JUNE 2024

Source: PropTrack

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PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said the jump in listings was good news for renters. but noted a “chronic undersupply of rental properties” was likely to continue over the next few years.

“The vacancy rate in Adelaide has increased over the past month, past quarter and also the past 12 months, which I think is fantastic news as vacancy in Adelaide was sitting sub 1 per cent levels for quite a long time,” she said.

“The fact that is it’s ticked over the 1 per cent, is a sign that vacancy rates are moving in the right direction but, of course, in the broader scheme, a vacancy rate of just 1.13 per cent is still incredibly low.

“It means that, at any given point in time, we’re still seeing a smaller proportion of rentals coming up on the market, compared to what we’re seeing in other states, which is why Adelaide’s rental supply is still the lowest in the country.”

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Nationally, vacancy rates rose by 0.09 percentage points in June to 1.42 per cent.

Sydney saw the largest increase in vacancy over the month, up 0.20 percentage points to 1.68 per cent, while Melbourne followed with a rise of 0.12 percentage point to reach vacancy rates of 1.50 per cent – the highest level seen in 12 months.

Renters in Brisbane also saw more choice in June, with the vacancy rate rising 0.05 percentage point to 1.20 per cent.

Meanwhile, Perth saw largest increase in vacancy over the past year, due to a surge in investor activity in the state which has contributed to a rise in the number of rentals.