Rental vacancies in Sydney have dropped to their lowest rate this year, according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW)

The REINSW’s residential vacancy rate report for September revealed that rental vacancies in Sydney are down a substantial 0.7% from August. Middle Sydney saw the biggest drop of 0.9% compared to August, followed by Outer Sydney (down 0.8%) and Inner Sydney (down 0.3%).

According to the report, total vacancies across Sydney now sit at just 2.9% — a significant shift for the rental market, with vacancies previously hovering above 3% since November 2018. Since August, vacancies in Outer Sydney have dropped from 3.5% down to 2.7%, Middle Sydney is down to 3% from 3.9%, while vacancies in Inner Sydney are down from 3.4% to 3.1%.

“We haven’t seen Sydney’s vacancy rates this low since October last year,” said Tim McKibbin, chief executive officer of REINSW. “With a reduction in the available rental supply, we could see upward pressure on rents.”

However, McKibbin said that lower vacancies are to be expected at the start of the spring season.

“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,” he said.