Growing rental optimism

THE rental market remains tight across regional Victoria, but the REIV believes improving conditions will help investors back into the property market to ease the rental squeeze.

The latest REIV rental vacancy figures for August show the vacancy rate in regional Victoria is 1.5 per cent, a slight improvement from 1.2 per cent in May.

The metropolitan Melbourne vacancy rate last month was 2.1 per cent, down from 2.3 per cent in April.

While vacancy rates across regional Victoria are trending upwards, they are still quite low. The best performing region in country Victoria is Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley, which in August recorded a rental vacancy rate of 2.1 per cent. The worst is Mildura and the Mallee, with a vacancy rate of 0.9 per cent in August.

These results are well below the minimum 3.0 per cent vacancy rate that is considered to be a healthy rental market.

Vacancy rates this low create an incredibly tight rental market, but demand is extremely high The REIV’s data shows that there are signs of improvement in most regions.

For renters, always do your research and be optimistic: 10 people might attend an open for inspection, but that doesn’t mean all will apply.

On the flip side, there are opportunities for investors as the property market improves.

We need a fair and workable regulatory system that helps the small-scale investors who own 83 per cent of Australian investment properties, reduces their costs and stimulates new investors.

But recent interest rate cuts, APRA guidance to loosen lending standards and greater stability following the Federal Election, the REIV hopes to see an upturn in investor activity during the last months of 2019, and that will help ease the rental market.