Adelaide tenants continue to face one of the toughest rental markets in the country with vacancy rates again edging towards sub 1 per cent.

PropTrack’s latest market insight report, released today, shows Adelaide’s rental vacancies declined by 0.08 percentage points in July to a citywide average of 1.06 per cent.

It’s the second lowest vacancy rate of any market nationally, with Adelaide sitting behind only Darwin which shed 0.15 percentage points in July to 1.03 per cent.

“It really goes to show that, even though we are seeing some movement month to month in the vacancy rate in Adelaide, the reality of the situation is that the vacancy rate remains stubbornly below where we would like it to be,” PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said.

“It’s still very much a landlords market and the fact that we continue to see the rate of vacancy at the 1 per cent level indicates that it remains incredibly competitive for renters right now.”

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Mr Flaherty cautioned that rents were likely to keep rising on the back of continuously low vacancy rates.

PropTrack data shows the average tenant now pays $580 a week for a house – compared to $520 a year ago – and $490 for a unit – $50 more than prices recorded in August 2023.

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However, there is some reason for optimism with SA recording “a strong pick up in investor activity”, Ms Flaherty said.

“Over the June quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year, the number of new loan commitments to investors was up by 21 per cent,” she said.

“That’s actually been the reason why we’ve seen vacancy rates improve in Adelaide over the past 12 months.

“Over the last three months, the vacancy rate was actually above 1 per cent in Adelaide, whereas it was below 1 per cent for the past two years before that.

“While 1 per cent is still way too low, it’s a substantial improvement from where we were.”

The national rental vacancy rate held relatively steady in July, dropping just 0.01 percentage points to 1.42 per cent.

The slight drop was driven by regional markets, which recorded a 0.04 percentage point decline month on-month to 1.28 per cent.

Capital cities, in contrast, held steady at 1.47 per cent over July. 

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