Rents to soar as new data reveals hundreds of rental homes vanish weekly

Australia’s already strained rental pool has been shrinking since major housing reforms were announced in the May budget and the rising competition for homes is expected to spark more rent hikes.Exclusive analysis by research group FoundIt of more than 760,000 property listings showed a stock shortfall was emerging, with only 61 new rentals coming to market for every 100 rentals sold since budget night.About 10,100 rented homes were sold in the first seven weeks since the budget – the latest period with available data – but just 6140 new rentals were purchased and listed up for lease over the same period.This meant the country was losing about 570 rental homes per week nationally, according to the FoundIt analysis of the G-NAF, the Commonwealth’s official database of residential addresses.The study noted the number of landlords selling rental homes was lower than over the same period last year, but this was being paired with a significant drop in the rate of new landlord purchases.The rent for this Ermington home has risen by $280 per week in the past year, records show.MORE: Sydney suburbs where vendors are slashing prices by $500kABS data revealed a similar trend, with the number...