by Sanjeev Sah | June 06, 2023 | Market Updates

Louis Christopher, SQM Research managing director, has declared the rental crisis “over” in Canberra after the city’s vacancy rate rose to 2.0% in April. 

As the table below shows, that’s significantly higher than the vacancy rates in Australia’s other capital city rental markets. 

Accordingly, Canberra is the only capital city rental market where asking rents were cheaper for the week ending 12 May 2023 when compared to the same time last year – down 0.1%.  

By contrast: 

• Sydney = +25.1% 
• Melbourne = +22.5% 
• Perth = +17.7% 
• Brisbane = +16.7% 
• Adelaide = +11.2% 
• Darwin = +5.5% 
• Hobart = +4.9% 

In Australia, a vacancy rate of 3% and above is generally considered a tenants’ market. A vacancy rate of between 2% and 2.9% is a balanced market, while landlords hold the balance of market power when the rate drops under 2%.