The availability of rental housing in Perth is improving, with a 0.2 per cent uptick in vacancies last month to reach levels the industry describes as balanced.
Rental vacancies hit 2.5 per cent in March, according to a recent report by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.
This marked the first time the vacancy rate reached this level since September 2019,
REIWA president Suzanne Brown said REIWA considered a balanced market to have a vacancy rate between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent.
However, she said reaching this milestone did not mean the challenges of the past few years would suddenly disappear.
“WA is still recording strong population growth, although not as strong as previous years, and the estimated number of rentals remains about 5 per cent below the peak recorded in February 2021,” she said.
“These factors are maintaining pressure on the rental market as a whole.
“There will still be some increases in Perth rent prices in the months ahead and challenges finding rental properties, depending on where you are looking.”
Market conditions in the past four years have led to a scarce availability of properties.
This resulted in rental prices reaching historic highs, with recent data from CoreLogic revealing Perth’s median weekly rent hit $710 a week.
This made Perth the second most expensive capital to rent a home in the nation, compared with Sydney at $781 per week.
“A year ago, the vacancy rate was 0.4 per cent and 95.2 per cent of Perth suburbs had recorded an increase in their median weekly house rent price,” Ms Brown added.
“Forty per cent of suburbs recorded growth in excess of 20 per cent.
“A year later, 79.7 per cent of suburbs have seen their median house rent price increase. And the rate of price growth has slowed significantly in many suburbs.”
Ms Brown added that REIWA had seen strong increases in rental supply, particularly in outlying areas such as Baldivis, Eglinton, Alkimos, Brabham and Yanchep, where investors have purchased house and land packages.
