Rents in Sydney could shoot up as a result of the substantial drop in rental vacancies, the latest report by the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) shows.

Sydney vacancies dropped to 2.9%, their lowest level this year, signalling a shift in the city’s rental market.

"We haven't seen Sydney's vacancy rates this low since October last year. With a reduction in the available rental supply, we could see upward pressure on rents," REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said.

Hunter also remained popular, with only 1% of rental homes unoccupied, clocking an all-time low.

Illawarra vacancies also decreased, down from 2.3% to 2.2%.

"We do typically see vacancies decrease in the warmer months, so we can expect rates to remain low across New South Wales into the new year," McKibbin said.

In other regional New South Wales areas, more than 50% of the suburbs experienced a drop in vacancies.

The table below shows the vacancy rates in the three major NSW regions for the past five months.

VACANCY RATES – NEW SOUTH WALES MAJOR AREAS

SYDNEY

 

September

August

July

June

May

Inner

3.1%

3.4%

3.0%

3.4%

3.1%

Middle

3.0%

3.9%

4.1%

3.4%

3.3%

Outer

2.7%

3.5%

3.4%

3.5%

3.5%

Total

2.9%

3.6%

3.5%

3.4%

3.4%

HUNTER

 

September

August

July

June

May

Newcastle

1.2%

1.5%

1.6%

1.8%

1.7%

Other

1.0%

1.4%

1.8%

1.6%

1.9%

Total

1.0%

1.4%

1.7%

1.7%

1.8%

ILLAWARRA

 

September

August

July

June

May

Wollongong

2.8%

2.4%

1.6%

2.1%

3.3%

Other

1.5%

2.3%

3.3%

2.6%

2.9%

Total

2.2%

2.3%

2.2%

2.3%

3.1%

Source: REINSW