June 21st, 2024
June Release: Mobile Tasks and Lease Renewal updates
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Vacancy rates ease in most regions, while capital city rental prices decline for the first time since April 2020.
Vacancy rates
Vacancy rates slightly increased to 1.2% over the month of May with the total number of vacancies increasing from 33,177 in April to 35,641 vacant properties in May.
Across the past 30 days, vacancy rate increases were seen in:
Sydney, from 1.2% in April to 1.4% in May
Melbourne, from 1.1% in April to 1.3% in May, and
Canberra, from 0.1% in April to 1.8% in May
Vacancy rates remained unchanged across Perth and Adelaide, both sitting at 0.6%
Decreases were seen in Darwin only, with the largest change from 1.1% in April to 0.9% in May.
Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said, “As forecasted in our last update, we have recorded an easing in rental vacancy rates for May, but the rental crisis is still far from over at this stage. The immediate outlook is vacancy rates are set to rise somewhat into winter. This is the normal seasonality we get at this time of year so one should be a little careful about reading into these rises.
“Nevertheless, it might provide some minor relief to tenants who still have excessive difficulties in finding longer-term rental accommodation around the country. The full-year outlook remains the same in that we expect overall tight vacancy rates to be with us for 2024, driven by a fall in dwelling completions relative to ongoing growing demand.”
Rental values
On 11 June 2024, SQM Research recorded the first material decline in capital city advertised rents with a fall recorded of 0.5% over the past 30 days across the capital cities, with no change at the national level.
Over the past 30 days to 4 July 2024, national weekly asking prices remained unchanged for houses and rose by 0.6% for units.
The average national rental asking price is $692 for houses and $548 for units. Compared to last year, the national rental asking prices increased by 8.3% for houses and 9.8% for units.
Over the past 30 days to 4 July 2024, across capital cities, there was a 0.4% increase in house prices to $837 per week and no change in unit prices at $626 per week. Compared to last year capital city asking prices increased by 9.8% for houses and 7.2% for units.
Property prices
After a surge in listings in May, June experienced a typical winter decrease in listings.
Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said, “This is the standard winter
lull effect we see in the Australian housing market at this time of year so no great surprise in these numbers. That said, some cities are recording some very large year-on-year decline in listings, namely Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide… While the housing market may be slowing in Sydney and Melbourne, the same cannot be said for these three cities.”
At 2 July 2024
The national median asking price for houses was $915,319, a decrease of -1.8% over the past 30 days and a 9.2% increase over the past year. The national median asking price for units was $553,346, a 0.3% increase over the past 30 days and a 7.3% increase over the past year.
The capital city average asking price for houses was $1,388,152 and a unit was $686,421.
Capital city average asking prices for houses increased by 0.4% over the past 30 days and 9.9% over the past year. Capital city unit prices increased by 0.7% over the past 30 days and 5.4% over the past year.
Cash rate and predictions
June saw the RBA hold the cash rate target at 4.35% stating, “Inflation has fallen substantially since its peak in 2022, as higher interest rates have been working to bring aggregate demand and supply closer towards balance. But the pace of decline has slowed in the most recent data, with inflation still some way above the midpoint of the 2–3 per cent target range.”
Disclaimer: The information enclosed has been sourced from SQM Research and the Reserve Bank of Australia, and is provided for general information only. It should not be taken as constituting professional advice.
PropertyMe is not a financial adviser. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation, or other advice to check how the information relates to your unique circumstances.
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