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This actually represents a percentage fall in the discounted properties rented from April.
In April, that figure was nearly 30% for Sydney and more than 27% in Melbourne.
However, it should be noted that rental volume was generally much lower in those months, and the news comes after many states introduced various 'no eviction' rules during COVID-19, while short term holiday lets also flooded the long-term market.
See also: Should you find a new place to rent during COVID-19?
As late as February right before the pandemic took off, in Melbourne the rentals offered at a discount were as little as 15.5% of the market, while in Sydney it's remained above a fifth.
Solely going by Domain's research, the toughest capital city to have asked for a discount in May would have been Adelaide - just 12.6% of rental properties were discounted there.
Brisbane and Perth were also fairly tight, at 16.6% and 16.2% discount frequencies respectively.
As for particular areas to fancy asking for a discount, in South and West Hobart in Tasmania more than a third of rental properties were rented at a discount in May - up from just 13.5% in February.
In inner Melbourne that figure was also 32.2%, up from 15.7% in February.
A scan down the list reveals a few 'usual suspect' holiday letting areas - such as the inner city, and 'Gold Coast East' in Queensland at 20.9%, up from 11.8% i.e. Surfers Paradise and surrounds.
Areas and suburbs must have had a minimum of 50 properties rented to qualify.
How much can I negotiate off rent during COVID-19?
As for how much of a discount renters are getting, SQM Research reported that in the rolling month ending 4 June, in Sydney, houses saw a 1.4% slide in rental prices for a median rent of $643 a week.
For units, that discount was just 0.4%, for a median rent of $478.10.
On the year, these figures represent a 7.0% and 5.1% slide in rental prices respectively.
In Melbourne, for both houses and units the slide over the month was 0.5%, with a 1.4% annual slide for houses, and 4.3% for units, for a median rental price of $532.30 and $405.90 respectively.
Elsewhere - Australia is bigger than Sydney and Melbourne - the discounts weren't as large, if they were discounted at all.
In Brisbane, for example, prices increased over the month - up 0.6% for houses, and 0.4% for units, for a median weekly rental price of $460.70 and $377.80 respectively.
Across all capital cities over the month, rental prices slid just 0.4% for houses and 0.2% for units.
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