Australia’s rental crisis will worsen as domestic and international borders re-open, with Brisbane hardest hit as insufficient new supply pushes rents up over the next five years.
The opening up of domestic borders to interstate travel, national borders to international travel and the likely return of immigrants and foreign students will put pressure on all of Australia’s cities, says JLL’s Apartment Market Overview.
The 7% decline in the national inner-city unit pipeline in the September Quarter – the latest piece in a picture of decline under way for four years – makes clear the significance of the worsening supply situation.
“We’ve had a lot of focus on house price affordability, but rental affordability is going to be a really big issue,” says senior research director Leigh Warner. “People are going to be in housing distress over the next few years.”
The report shows that the apartment pipeline to 2025 – of apartments completed this year, under construction, in marketing or in planning – fell to 62,655 across the mainland capital cities from 67,154 in the June Quarter.
“Some people will be cheering rental growth, but we’re heading into a period where rental affordability will be a real issue nationally,” he says. “Rents are rising enormously and there are social consequences.”
