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Cheap rentals are fast disappearing from Australia’s major capitals as demand for rentals returns to urban centres.
Low-cost rentals have disappeared from regional areas more quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but new data from PropTrack shows that cheap rental accommodation is now disappearing from capital cities at a faster rate.
The share of homes advertised on property site realestate.com.au in Australian capital cities for less than $400 has plunged from 31.5 per cent in February 2022 to 14.6 per cent last month.
Across all regions, that share has fallen more modestly from 37.8% in February to 25.9% 12 months later.
PropTrack’s Cameron Kusher said demand for rentals was outpacing supply, driving up weekly rentals and keeping vacancy rates low.
“As a result, there has been a significant reduction in available rentals for less than $400 per week since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
Overall, the share of rental listings advertised on the site for properties under $400 per week has plummeted to its lowest level since late 2018.
The proportion has fallen from 32.8% in February 2022 to 17.6% 12 months later.
“The drop in the availability of more affordable rentals and increasing competition for rental stock is creating challenges for those with lower incomes or government support payments as they try to obtain increasingly scarce rental housing,” Kusher said. .
He said demand for rentals was expected to increase and maintain upward pressure on prices.
A separate report released by CoreLogic reveals the gender homeownership gap.
Home ownership tends to be higher for men than for women, with men being associated with 3.1 percent more of the housing stock than women.
The discrepancy widens for investment property, with men owning seven percentage points more Australian investment property than women.
CoreLogic’s Australian head of research and author of the report, Eliza Owen, said there were several factors holding women back from owning a home, including that men, on average, earn more than women.
“In previous reports, we have noted the role of the gender pay gap in contributing to women falling behind in asset accumulation, particularly where it may take women longer on average to build up a deposit for a home,” said Mrs. Owen.
-AAP
