Vacancy Rates and Median Rents

Melbourne’s inner suburbs experienced higher than usual vacancy of 3.8% in January this year but have since decreased back to a more normal figure of less than 3% for February and March according to the REIV. Conditions in the middle and outer suburbs have shown a similar pattern with vacancy decreasing since January.

As a whole, Melbourne saw a vacancy rate of 2.8% in March. Though this is a decrease from the summer spike of 3.6% in January, it is substantially higher than the July 2012 figure of 1.9%, showing an increase over this financial year.

Metropolitan Melbourne’s median rents overall have increased during this financial year according to the REIV. The median rent for houses increased from $380 per week in July 2012 to $395 per week in March 2013. Units similarly increased in this time period from $360 per week to $370.

The inner suburbs of Melbourne (0-10km from the CBD) saw median rents increase from $521 to $530 for houses and $380 to $395 for units between July 2012 to March 2013.

The middle suburbs (10-20km from CBD) showed a slight increase for house rents (from $390 to $395 per week) and a small decrease for units (from $360 to $350 per week) in this period.

The outer suburbs (20km+ from CBD) also showed an increase for house median rents (from $333 to $340 per week) but units remained stable with a median rent of $300 recorded in July 2012 and March 2013.

Source: The Real Estate Institute of Victoria Ltd (REIV)