Positive signs for vacancy rates in major metropolitan areas

The REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey results for January 2022 show that residential rental  vacancies have dropped across the major metropolitan areas of Sydney, Newcastle and  Wollongong. 

“What a difference a month makes,” REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said. “Sydneysiders – and  indeed people across New South Wales – are coming out of hibernation. While there has  been an exodus from metropolitan areas in recent months, it looks like the tide is starting to  turn. 

“The vacancy rate in Sydney overall fell by 0.3% to be 2.5% in January. The Inner and  Outer Rings of Sydney also fell by 0.3% to be 3.4% and 1.5% respectively. The Middle Ring  remained stable at 2.9%.” 

Outside Sydney, vacancy rates tightened, dropping to 1.8% (-0.3%) in Newcastle and 0.4%  (-0.4%) in Wollongong. 

Vacancy rates across regional New South Wales continue to remain low, recording only  small movements. 

“Rates in the Mid-North Coast, Murrumbidgee, Orana, Riverina, South Coast and South  Eastern areas all experienced a slight uptick in the availability of rental accommodation in  January 2022, while the Coffs Harbour, New England and Northern Rivers areas saw  decreases,” Mr McKibbin said. “The Albury, Central Coast and Central West areas remained  unchanged.” 

“The hesitancy we saw in the market leading into the festive season due to the Omicron  variant seems to be dissipating and people are returning to metropolitan areas. And, as we  would expect, the pre-Christmas market lull is reversing, as people make decisions about  their work and living plans for the coming year. 

“This all bodes well for the residential rental market going forward.” 

About REINSW 

The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) is the peak industry body for real estate and property  professionals in NSW. It represents more than 2000 agencies across residential sales, property management,  commercial, strata management, buyers’ agency, agency services and auctioneering. Established in 1910, REINSW  works to improve the standards, professionalism and expertise of its members to continually evolve and innovate  the industry. It lobbies the government and industry on behalf of members, develops new products and services to  benefit agencies and professionals, and offer training and ongoing professional development. For more information,  visit reinsw.com.au.

Residential vacancy rate percentage 

The REINSW Residential Vacancy Rate Report is based on the proportion of unlet residential  dwellings to the total rent roll of REINSW member agents on the 15th of each month.  Carried out monthly, the research – a survey of REINSW member agents conducted by Survey Matters – collects the total properties on agency rent rolls, the number of properties  that were vacant on the 15th of the month, and the postcode in which a majority of agents’  rental properties are located. The suburb-level rates reported by agents are weighted based  on ABS Census 2016 Dwelling Characteristics. The January 2022 report is based on survey  responses covering 92,124 residential rental properties.

	Jan  22	Dec  21	Nov  21	Oct  21	Sep  21	Aug  21	Jul  21	Jun  21	May  21	Apr  21	Mar  21	Feb  21
SYDNEY
Inner	3.4%	3.7%	4.4%	3.9%	3.7%	2.9%	3.1%	4.0%	3.3%	4.0%	4.5%	3.7%
Middle	2.9%	2.9%	2.9%	3.1%	3.9%	4.0%	3.9%	3.2%	4.6%	5.8%	5.8%	4.3%
Outer	1.5%	1.8%	1.8%	1.8%	2.2%	1.7%	2.3%	2.2%	2.5%	3.2%	2.5%	1.9%
Total	2.5%	2.8%	3.0%	2.8%	3.1%	2.6%	2.9%	3.1%	3.3%	4.3%	4.0%	3.1%
HUNTER
Newcastle	1.8%	2.1%	2.0%	1.8%	1.5%	2.2%	4.0%	1.6%	1.6%	1.7%	0.7%	1.9%
Other	0.8%	0.9%	0.8%	0.6%	0.9%	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	1.3%	1.4%	0.7%	1.0%
Total	1.0%	1.2%	1.0%	0.9%	1.0%	1.0%	1.6%	1.0%	1.4%	1.5%	0.7%	1.3%
ILLAWARRA
Wollongong	0.4%	0.8%	0.7%	1.0%	2.0%	1.5%	1.4%	1.4%	1.2%	0.9%	1.6%	2.2%
Other	0.5%	1.8%	1.2%	1.5%	1.8%	0.9%	1.3%	1.1%	0.6%	1.1%	0.7%	2.0%
Total	0.5%	1.2%	0.9%	1.3%	1.9%	1.2%	1.4%	1.3%	0.9%	1.0%	1.1%	2.1%
REGIONS
Albury	0.5%	0.5%	0.9%	0.5%	0.6%	0.9%	0.5%	0.7%	1.1%	0.4%	0.7%	0.7%
Central Coast	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	1.5%	1.4%	1.6%	1.4%	0.9%	1.3%	0.7%	0.9%	0.6%
Central West	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.7%	0.5%	0.5%	0.8%	0.6%	0.8%
Coffs Harbour	0.7%	0.8%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.4%	1.1%	1.4%	0.9%	0.9%	1.3%	0.5%
Mid-North Coast	1.0%	0.7%	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.6%	1.1%	0.6%	0.6%	1.0%	0.6%	0.9%
Murrumbidgee	0.7%	0.6%	0.8%	0.2%	0.3%	1.3%	1.4%	1.4%	1.8%	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%
New England	0.9%	1.1%	0.5%	1.0%	1.3%	1.7%	1.5%	2.0%	1.4%	1.3%	2.3%	2.0%
Northern Rivers	0.6%	1.1%	0.7%	0.9%	0.8%	1.2%	1.5%	1.0%	0.3%	0.5%	0.3%	0.6%
Orana	1.6%	1.5%	1.3%	2.0%	1.3%	1.7%	1.9%	1.4%	3.0%	1.3%	0.8%	1.4%
Riverina	0.9%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.7%	0.7%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	0.9%	0.7%	1.0%
South Coast	0.9%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.5%
South Eastern	1.3%	0.81%	1.0%	0.9%	1.3%	1.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.6%	1.7%	0.6%	1.5%