At that rate, Mr Christopher said, if you put down a 10 per cent deposit, on average an investment property would become cash-flow positive in six years.
Renters feel the squeeze in Sydney
Stephen Nicholls December 23, 2011Read later Comments 5 .
"Figures out this week confirm that they [Sydneysiders] have less than half the chance of finding a home as their Melbourne counterparts." Photo: Jon Reid
MORTGAGE holders sitting down to Christmas dinner this year can celebrate two interest rate cuts in a row and the prospect of more on the way.
But spare a thought for the Sydney renter.
Figures out this week confirm that they have less than half the chance of finding a home as their Melbourne counterparts.
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SQM Research says the vacancy rate for the month of November in Sydney was 1.5 per cent, with just 7970 houses or apartments available. Compare that with the Victorian capital, where the rate is 3.4 per cent and there were 12,367 places.
''Melbourne actually has an oversupply of new apartments because of a significant building boom in 2009 and 2010,'' the managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher, said.
And then there's the cost. The median rent for a Sydney apartment in the September quarter was $450 a week. In Melbourne it's $100 less. The median for a four-bedroom house in Sydney is $560. In Melbourne, it's $380.
''The middle and lower end of the market is very tight, so rents have been accelerating along at a very fast clip,'' Mr Christopher said. ''They're running at 7 per cent per annum - that's quick.''
At that rate, Mr Christopher said, if you put down a 10 per cent deposit, on average an investment property would become cash-flow positive in six years.
Grant Arbuthnot, the principal solicitor at the NSW tenants union, said Sydney renters were certainly up against it.
''It is tough at both ends - because of the low vacancy rate, they have trouble getting in,'' Mr Arbuthnot said.
''At the other end, the new Tenancy Act has taken away the tribunal's discretion to refrain from eviction based on the circumstance of the case, when a 90-day notice is given.''
