Word on the street from Melbourne RE agents is that landlords are fleeing the residential market in droves due to punitive taxes and tenancy laws. And while this may help buyers to some degree it will only serve to exacerbate the already severe lack of rental accommodation - causing rents to climb even higher. That said, it's not much better in the other States with the National residential rental vacancy factor hovering at less than 1%. That poses a problem for the government; a threat that may impact poles and voting, which could lead to government intervention, good and bad. The reality is that being a landlord in this day and age is a tough gig with a poor return and high risk when there's better, less stressful returns in simple, bank term deposits (there being little capital gain ahead in the near future). And what better time to sell that rental property in the current bubble.
