Regional South Australia’s rental vacancy rate declined in July to record the lowest vacancy rate of the regional markets, according to latest PropTrack Market Insight Report, released yesterday.

The report found that regional South Australia recorded a monthly decline of 0.11%age points (ppt) to 1.12%.

PropTrack Senior Economist Anne Flaherty said however, the number of vacant rentals had improved over the past year, rising 0.21ppt since July 2023.

Ms Flaherty said while conditions remain incredibly tough for Australia’s renters, rental supply has improved over the past three months, with the national vacancy rate rising 0.18ppt to 1.42%.

“Capital cities have seen the largest improvement, with vacancy up in six of the eight cities over the quarter,” she said.

“Supporting the rise in capital city vacancies has been an increase in investor activity, with the number of new loan commitments to investors up 25% over the June quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

“Higher investor activity has resulted in more rental properties hitting the market, helping to counteract the increase in demand from population growth.:

In regional South Australia, the vacancy rate fell by 0.11ppt over the month to sit at 1.12%, the lowest rental vacancy rate of the regional markets.

However, regional South Australia’s vacancy rate has risen by 0.21ppt over the year, the second greatest annual increase of all markets.

Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, regional South Australia has recorded a 56% fall in vacant rentals.

Key findings


• The national rental vacancy rate held relatively steady in July, dropping just 0.01%age points (ppt) to 1.42%.

• The slight drop in vacancy was driven by regional markets, which recorded a 0.04ppt decline month-on-month to 1.28%. Capital cities, in contrast, held steady at 1.47% over July.

• Sydney’s vacancy rate was unchanged over the month at 1.68%. This was 0.36ppt higher than the level seen just three months ago.

• Canberra’s vacancy rose 0.20ppt in July to 2%, the city’s highest rate of vacancy in 12 months.

• Melbourne was the only other capital city to see vacancy rise in July, up 0.05ppt to 1.56%.

• Darwin (1.03%) has overtaken Adelaide (1.06%) to record the lowest vacancy of any capital city, shedding 0.15ppt over the month.

• Hobart saw the sharpest decline in vacancy of any capital city in July, down 0.17ppt to 1.11%.

• Brisbane and Perth recorded more modest declines, reaching 1.16% and 1.26%, respectively.