Queensland rental vacancies ease but experts deliver grim warning for tenants

Queensland’s tight rental market has eased slightly but experts warn the reprieve may be short lived, with rental listings showing steep hikes are already being priced in. New data from realestate.com.au shows Brisbane’s vacancy rate rose to 1 per cent in July, up 0.3 percentage points over the month and 0.2 points higher than a year earlier. But the River City still remains one of the tightest rental markets in the country, only slightly higher than Hobart and Darwin, which both have a vacancy rate of 0.9 per cent. Brisbane’s vacancy rate has lifted but it is still tight. By comparison, Canberra sits at 1.9 percent, Melbourne at 1.8 per cent, Sydney at 1.7 per cent, Adelaide at 1.2 per cent and Perth at 1.1 per cent. Vacanacy rates also lifted in regional Queensland, up 0.2 percentage points in July to 1.4 per cent, the same as regional NSW and Tasmania. Victoria has the highest vacancy rate for the regions at 1.9 per cent, followed by Western Australia (1.7%), and the Northern Territory (1.5%). Regional South Australia sits at 1.2 per cent. Nationally, the vacancy rate lifted to 1.5 per cent in July, the highest level since February 2022. Capital cities and regional areas both re...