New data reveals Sydney rental property numbers hit record low

There’s no relief in sight to the rental crisis across Sydney with a big drop in new listings.

New data has dealt another crushing blow to people looking for rentals, with Sydney’s rental property numbers the lowest in over a decade.

PropTrack’s latest rental listing Market Insight Report reveals the number of new rental listings on realestate.com.au fell 17 per cent in April, hitting its lowest level since April 2012.

Meanwhile total rental listings on realestate.com.au across the Harbour City dropped 7.8 per in April, another record low since December 2012.

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PropTrack’s director of economic research Cameron Kusher said while April was a month well known for falls in rental listings, the drop across Sydney was “on the large side”.

“The bigger takeaway that we are seeing is that the number of total properties available for rent in Sydney dropped another 15.7 per cent from where it was 12 months ago,” he said.

“It’s highlighting how difficult it is for renters to find accommodation.”

Mr Kusher said Sydney’s shrinking number of rental listings as well as new listings was a concern.

“If you look at where things are now compared to the start of the pandemic, the number of properties available for rent is down 42.7 per cent,” he said.

“Those are conditions that are ripe for landlords to put up rent and for people not being able to find properties to rent.”

However, he said the report revealed an increase in total rental listings over the month in the city and the inner south as well as the eastern suburbs.

“New listings were lower but total rental listings were a little bit higher,” he said.

“But generally looking across Sydney, particularly in those inner city areas, there has been a large fall in the number of properties available for rent compared to a year ago.”

Over the last 12 months, properties for rent across the eastern suburbs fell 21.2 per cent, while the inner southwest is down 34.1 per cent, inner west down 27.4 per cent and Parramatta down 29.6 per cent.

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However Mr Kusher said on the flip side, areas such as Baulkham Hills, the Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and the Central Coast had more properties on the market now compared to 12 months ago.

“We are definitely seeing rental prices easing on the outskirts of the city but tightening quite a lot in the inner and middle ring areas and particularly areas close to universities,” he said.

A key finding of the PropTrack report was that without an imminent increase in supply, the number of rentals would remain low and drive up competition renters are facing.

“Unfortunately there’s nowhere near enough supply,” Mr Kusher said.

“I’d be very surprised if there’s any relief over the next few months. You have a lot of housing under construction but most of its targeted at owner-occupier. Build to rent is coming but it is a premium product and not a huge volume.

“You’ve still got a high number of people selling their investment properties and we know there is still a lot of people coming into the country from overseas.

“The other big factor is it’s hard for people to make that leap out of renting into buying their first home. Even though rents are rising rapidly, generally it’s still cheaper to be renting than to be servicing a mortgage.”

He said there was also an increased risk of people becoming homeless, especially those without jobs on government support payments and essential workers.

“I know rent bidding is not allowed but the reality is if you’re in a position to offer more than the advertised rent you have a better chance at securing a property,” he said.

“People on lower incomes just don’t have that luxury unfortunately.”

The report revealed that the number of new rental listings also fell in regional NSW, down 17.2 per cent in April.

However, the number of new rental listings was 23 per cent higher compared to April 2022.