Rental vacancy rates update

“There is still a long way to go for Queensland’s rental market to reach healthy rates, but these results are a step in the right direction with a little more movement and increasing opportunity and choice for renters wanting to get into the market.

“Necessity is the mother of invention, and because people have been unable to find the type of rental property they are looking for, in the area they’re looking for, and something that works within their budget restraints, they are thinking outside of the box, adapting, and finding alternative solutions.

“These alternative arrangements include moving back in with parents where possible, moving in with other tenants in a co-tenancy instead of sole tenancy, and looking for units or townhouses instead of a freestanding home, or casting their net wider by looking at nearby localities with greater supply.”

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says consecutive lifts in the state’s quarterly residential vacancy rate is a promising sign that rental conditions are improving.

The REIQ Residential Vacancy Rate Report for the June 2023 Quarter, covers 50 local government areas (LGAs) and sub regions in Queensland, and comes as the state-wide vacancy rate rose to 1.0% for the first time since December 2021.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the movement over the quarter showed that we are crawling towards healthier rates across most of the state.

“We’re starting to see some early signs of the rental market starting to soften just ever so slightly, with vacancy rates showing small increases in the majority of regions,” Ms Mercorella said.

Most improvements in vacancy rates were limited to a slight lift of 0.1-0.2 per cent which was the case across Greater Brisbane. Meanwhile in Queensland’s tourism centres, a substantial vacancies surge was seen on Maroochy Coast (1.9%), Sunshine Coast (1.6%), and Caloundra Coast (1.3%), while Noosa shot up to into the ‘healthy’ range with a rate of 3.1 per cent.

For these popular holiday markets, it is unlikely that the rapidly relaxing vacancy rate reflects reprieve for local renters, rather it may indicate that most homes remaining on this market are listing at a price point that is out of reach for many families.