Renters admit they are prepared to lie about their income or savings because they are so desperate to secure a property in the tight market.
A survey by Finder.com.au reveals they will also lie about not having pets in an effort to snare somewhere to live.
One in ten offer to pay more than the asking rent and many are prepared to pay several months’ worth of rent upfront to beat the competition.
Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke says the rental market has become “cut-throat”.
SQM Research figures show vacancy rates are only 1.2% in Darwin, 1.4% in Sydney and Canberra, 1.5% in Melbourne and below 1% in all other capital cities.
At the same time the median asking rent is now 17.5% higher than at the same time last year.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher says the trend is set to continue.
“February-March seasonally tends to be a very difficult time for tenants looking for rental properties and given the already low rental stock on the market, early 2023 could be a nightmare for would-be tenants,” he says.
PropTrack analysis shows that, despite rising rents, it is still cheaper to rent than buy 80% of homes in Australia.
