rental crisis in sydney

Sydney rental market gets even worse
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font June 25, 2008 - 9:20AM

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The dismal rental market in Sydney has become even worse, with the vacancy rate dipping below one per cent.

However, the situation in Newcastle and Wollongong has improved.

Figures from the Real Estate Institute of NSW reveal that vacancies in Sydney have dropped from one per cent in April to 0.9 per cent in May - the fourth decline in the past seven months.

Vacancies in Newcastle have doubled from 1.5 per cent in April to three per cent in May, but the rest of the Hunter region dropped from 2.2 to 1.9 per cent.

Wollongong's rate rose from 1.5 to 2.0 per cent in the same period, but in the rest of the Illawarra vacancies dropped from 1.9 to 1.6 per cent.

The Central Coast remained unchanged from April to May at 2.7 per cent.

The institute has called on Premier Morris Iemma and NSW Treasurer Michael Costa to make property investment more attractive.

"The premier and treasurer have again failed to deal with the single most important factor preventing investors from buying and building rental properties," institute president Steve Martin said in a statement.

"The punitive tax regime in New South Wales must be relaxed if we are to see the kind of recovery in the rental sector required to meet the growing needs of Australia's largest city," Mr Martin said.

Specifically, the institute wants stamp duty on real estate purchases abolished, as well as land tax.