Most capital cities saw their rental vacancy rates drop last month according to Domain's March Rental Vacancy Rate Report.

Hobart saw an increase of 0.1% - with the vacancy rate now sitting at 0.3% - and Perth remained steady at 0.5%.

Domain Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell said that after one month of international and all domestic borders opening, there is already increased pressure on an already-strained rental market.

"It’s caused a resurgence in rental demand, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne which again have recorded the biggest drop in vacancy rates," Dr Powell said.

"With many cities already sitting at record high asking rents, combined with the current tightening conditions, we're likely to see rental price increases continue, causing worsened conditions for tenants."

All capital cities are now operating in a landlords' market - the first time this has happened since 2017.

Vacancy rates reach historic lows in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth

Adelaide and Hobart are still the most competitive rental markets with vacancy rates at 'extreme' lows.

Sydney's vacancy rate also hit its lowest point since 2017 - now sitting at 1.4%.

Also at their lowest rates are Canberra, Brisbane, and Perth with vacancy rates of 0.5%, 0.7% and 0.5% respectively.

Hobart's vacancy rate hit its lowest point in February - 0.2%.

According to Domain, the resurgence in rental demand will primarily occur in Sydney and Melbourne.

This is already evident in Melbourne's vacancy rate 'recovering' from 2.1% in February to 1.8% in March; Sydney's vacancy rate also dropped from 1.7% to 1.4%.

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Source: Domain

Image by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash





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