New data has revealed that national residential property rental vacancy rates across Australia have remained at 0.9 % in September – their lowest level in 16 years.

SQM Research found while the national rate was at its lowest since 2006, vacancy rates in Melbourne and Sydney were unchanged at 1.4% and 1.3 % respectively, while Canberra’s slightly increased from 0.9 % to 1 %.

Vacancy rates in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart, were all well below 1.0%.

Maria Milillo, Head of Property Management, Raine & Horne, said the new findings were welcome news to landlords who had it tough during the pandemic, bearing the brunt of lockdowns, high vacancy rates and reduced rents.

“The rental market had done a complete 360 degree turn and investors are now enjoying the benefits of owning quality, well-located residential property,” she said.

“They can also feel more confident that over the next several years they’ll have more security of cash flow especially with migration bouncing back and the government even increasing the number of overseas arrivals.”

During the 30 days to October 12, capital city asking rents increased by another 1.4% with the 12-month rise standing at 21.8%, according to SQM Research.

Broader national rents – including all regions- increased 14.7% for the same 12-month period.

The national median weekly asking rent for a dwelling was $530.5 a week.

Meanwhile, the latest data from PropTech has shown the number of properties listed for rent under $400 a week in Darwin has drastically declined during the past two years.

September 2022 PropTrack data revealed just 9.6 % of listings for dwellings on realestate.com.au, were for less than $400 per week in Darwin.

This was in stark contrast to March 2020, where a whopping 47.4 per cent of dwelling listings were under that price.

In March 2020, houses under $400/week dominated 29 per cent of listings.

Glenn Grantham, Raine & Horne Darwin General Manager, told the NT News that the current rental climate had not been seen since the Inpex era of 2013 and 2014.

“We’ve had huge demand from rentals and our vacancy rates since COVID have been almost zero. It’s what we call a virtual zero,” he told the publication.

“What that does is put a lot of pressure on upward movement of prices. It’s stemmed by a combination of that, as well as interest rates effecting the lower end of the market.

“For existing owners, interest rates and payments have gone up. They’re taking the opportunity to offset that by increasing rents.”

Glenn also told NT News that he did not expect the current market to change, as there was no increase in the amount of properties hitting the market despite the increased need for workers in the area.