New rentals new snapped up in record time

The number of days a rental property sits on realestate.com.au before being leased has fallen to a historic low.

The online property listing platform’s data arm, PropTrack, has released its residential rental figures from the first quarter of 2022, revealing that properties are now being advertised for fewer than three weeks before being snapped up by a new tenant, with the average falling form 24 days at the start of the year to 19 in March.

Out of all of the capital cities and state regions, Sydney and Melbourne are the only areas where listings spend longer than three weeks, on average, before being let. But just barely, clocking in at 22 and 23 days, respectively, and still down significantly from 28 and 32 days this time last year.

In terms of the average price of a rental, median weekly advertised rental rates were unchanged across the country over the three months to March 2022. However, they increased by 4.7 per cent year-on-year – the strongest annual rate of rental growth recorded since 2014.

Darwin and regional Northern Territory saw rents fall, but beyond that, all other capital cities and regions saw either increases or remained the same.

Houses are still proving popular, with many seeking new accommodations in search of greater space. National house rents were 4.3 per cent higher over the quarter and 6.7 per cent higher year-on-year, while unit rental growth was 2.4 per cent for the quarter and 2.4 per cent higher than this time 12 months ago.

Rental yields, however, have tightened more for houses than multi-home complexes. Rental yields for houses have fallen over the year from 4.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent, while unit yields experienced far less of a drop, now sitting at 4.1 per cent, down from 4.3 per cent a year ago.

The lowest yields of March 2022 were found in Sydney, with 3.2 per cent, Melbourne, with 3.5 per cent, and regional Victoria, where yields sit at 4.1 per cent.

Regional Western Australia, regional Northern Territory, regional South Australia, and Darwin, meanwhile, recorded the highest yields, with rates above 6 per cent.

The number of new listings across the country has increased over the past three months, but the market still remains among the tightest recorded by PropTrack.

Combined capital city new rental listings rose 3.2 per cent in March 2022 compared to February but were 14.4 per cent lower than in March 2021. Regional new listings increased 11 per cent over the month but are still 4.2 per cent lower year-on-year.