Data exclusively compiled by this masthead using national and international sources shows Perth’s diabolical rental vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent is the tightest when compared against a host of major cities around the globe.
Out of the cities analysed,Berlin,which has a similar population to Perth at 3.8 million,had the next lowest vacancy rate of 0.8 per cent followed by Sydney (1.2 per cent),Toronto (1.7 per cent) and Auckland (2.8 per cent).
Like Perth,Berlin is battling a housing undersupply with available homes for rent being snapped up quickly.
Strategic Property Group managing director Trent Fleskens said the only solution to Perth’s diabolical rate was more supply,but the building industry’s ability to provide more dwellings seemed further away than ever.
“The irony of Perth’s world-leading rental market vacancy rate is that,one,this is not a record we should be proud of,and two,we are one of few major cities around the world that doesn’t suffer geological constraints that may restrict the construction of new dwellings,” he said.
“Perth’s rental market is even tighter than its sales market,which is hard to believe.”
The housing crisis gripping the state can be partly attributed to record population expansion,with 78,800 new interstate and overseas arrivals in the year to September 2023,according to the latest ABS data.
Sustainable Population Australia president Peter Strachan said as more people had their quality of life destroyed due to their inability to find shelter,there was mounting support to stabilise Australia’s population.
“This number of new arrivals would need 31,500 additional dwellings,well ahead of the trend of 8600 house,” he said.
“The bottom line is that despite a blistering pace of housing construction over the past 15 years,with some logistical challenges during the pandemic,rapid immigration-fuelled population expansion means that there is an annual shortfall of around 13,000 dwelling units annually,leaving about 32,000 people living in makeshift accommodation in the state.”
A state government spokesman said it was doing everything possible to support people impacted by the tight private rental market,including offering AirBnB owners $10,000 to rent to long-term tenants.
So far,198 AirBnB owners have accepted.
“The federal government has already significantly reduced Australia’s migrant intake,and it is expected this will ease some of the population pressures we are seeing in WA,” he said.
“However it’s important to strike a balance between sensible management of population increases,and ensuring we have access to the skilled labour our growing economy needs.”
But WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the state government was incapable of “digging itself out of the hole”.
“The Labor government has sat on its hands on housing for our must vulnerable,adding only 114 homes to the net total of social housing their first seven years in power,” she said.
“[Housing Minister] John Carey continues to blame the housing shortage on a worldwide problem. But other governments around the world are doing a far better job at managing it.”
The latest CoreLogic data shows the annual change in rental rates to May 2024 sits at 13.9 per cent in WA,the highest in the nation.
REIWA chief executive Cath Hart said there were signs the rental market was easing as Perth’s median rents remained unchanged at $650 per week for the second month in a row.
“There is some new supply coming onto the market,particularly in the northern corridor,” she said.
“Plus,some tenants are finally able to move into the homes they have built,which is also slowly freeing up some established supply.”
But Hart warned there was still stiff competition for more affordable homes.
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