Rents fall and vacancy rates rise across Sydney, most of regional NSW

Leanne Pilkington, president of the REINSW, also said that the survey showed vacancy rates in the middle Sydney and the outer Sydney regions both rose to 3.1 per cent from rises of 2 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The inner Sydney region also saw a rise in its vacancy rate of 2 per cent up to 2.9 per cent.

“We have seen a steady and relatively consistent rise in vacancy rates across Sydney as a string of developments reach completion, creating an oversupply in the marketplace,” Ms Pilkington said.

“As a result, rents are falling and properties are staying longer on the market than usual.”

Looking to regional New South Wales, the Hunter region saw vacancy rates rise by 0.1 of a percentage point to 2.1 per cent, even though the area includes the large regional city of Newcastle, which saw vacancy rates decline by 0.1 of a percentage point.

Meanwhile, the Illawarra region held steady at 2 per cent, keeping consistent with Wollongong’s vacancy rate also holding at 2 per cent.

Rising vacancy rates were also seen in other regional areas; Coffs Harbour saw its vacancy rate rise by 0.9 of a percentage point to 3.8 per cent, the Central Coast rose by 0.5 of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent and Riverina rose by 0.3 of a percentage point to 3.4 per cent.

Bucking the trend was the Northern Rivers area, which saw its vacancy rate decline by 0.3 of a percentage point to 1 per cent.