The number of foreign residents looking for a Victorian rental property increased 40 per cent in the March quarter compared to 12 months earlier, realestate.com.au figures show
Melbourne inner city markets hardest hit by Covid-19 are the most in-demand with international homeseekers looking for a rental, in a positive sign for investors.
The number of foreign residents looking for a Victorian rental property increased 40 per cent in the March quarter compared to 12 months earlier, realestate.com.au figures show.
Melbourne, Docklands and Southbank — the worst affected property markets by the pandemic — are joined by Carlton as the most searched suburbs by offshore rental seekers.
The median unit rent in Melbourne postcode 3000 has risen 13 per cent year-on-year to $450, according to realestate.com.au, as demand returns post-lockdown.
The CBD rental vacancy rate, which hit 10.8 per cent in September 2020, is now 2.4 per cent as of March, according to SQM Research.
PropTrack economist Angus Moore said opening the country’s borders had been ‘a big changer’ for the rental market, ‘particularly so for the inner city rental market’, with international students, backpackers and skilled migrants seeking properties.
Vacancy rates are now lower than they were pre-pandemic, and the number of inner Melbourne rentals listed on realestate.com.au is less than half what it was at its peak in November 2020, Moore said. That’s starting to translate into growing rents in inner Melbourne.
New Zealand, India, the UK, the US, Hong Kong and China topped the list of overseas searchers for Victorian property rentals, according to realestate.com.au.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said there were 12,400 vacant rental properties in metropolitan Melbourne last month compared to 27,300 the same time last year.
Christopher said this had been caused by multiple factors, including renters returning to the city from regional areas; some landlords withdrawing their properties from the market; and leaseholders being less willing to share with others for fear of catching Covid.
