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Melbourne’s rental vacancy rate has fallen while its median rent has increased, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s (REIV) rental market statistics for May.
The figures showed that the vacancy rate had fallen from 3.2 per cent in April to 2.8 per cent in May, and weekly rents for a house had increased from $382 to $390.
According to the REIV, these were minor variations, given that the vacancy rate had been about three per cent throughout the year and the median rent had been around $390.
“From a medium-term perspective, there is no doubt that government policies designed to increase the supply of dwellings is having an impact, with a persistently high vacancy rate now being a regular feature,” a spokesperson said.
Vacancy rates remained high in the inner-city areas where 3.9 per cent of rental homes were vacant compared to 4.4 per cent last month.
The middle suburbs remained reasonably stable at three per cent and in the outer suburbs the vacancy rate dropped from 2.8 to 2.2 per cent.
“While rents remain broadly consistent, there is some pressure evident in the inner suburbs for three-bedroom houses and, more broadly, in the metropolitan area for one- or two-bedroom units. In each of these cases the median rents rose,” the spokesperson said.
The vacancy rate rose in regional Victoria from 3.3 to 4.1 per cent while median rent remained stable.
The most significant change was in Geelong where the vacancy rate rose from 4.4 to 6.7 per cent.
In Bendigo the vacancy rate remained stable at 3.1 per cent and it rose in Ballarat from 2.2 to 2.7 per cent.
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