The Rental Apocalypse in Adelaide By John Reed (Brother of James)
"Their" ABC has given an accurate coverage of the rental crisis in Adelaide, which I have seen firsthand from my own work. Indeed, Adelaide is the worse capital city in Australia now for this, having the lowest vacancy rate in Australia. In normal times the vacancy rate is expected to be around the 3 percent mark, but Adelaide is below 1 percent, and has remained at that level since September 2021. The real cause is not discussed by the ABC, but publications such as Macrobusiness.com.au, have shown that mass immigration is the main factor, particularly the international students. The universities in this city are inundated with international students, who have been a core element of the accommodation crisis. Visiting the campuses is like going on a journey overseas to Asia.
The universities are getting a free ride here, with huge profits, while creating major social problems. First, they need to lose their tax-exempt status, and be treated like the corporations that they are; gone is the myth of the pursuit of truth and all that. Second, the universities need to accommodate the international students that come to take the places that locals should have but are displaced from in in this great Ponzi scam. Put up, or close down.
"Adelaide now has the tightest rental market in the country, after overtaking Perth as the capital city with the lowest vacancy rate in Australia.
Monthly data from private analytics company PropTrack shows just 0.83 per cent of Adelaide's rental properties were vacant in March, compared to 1.08 per cent across the nation.
"A healthy vacancy rate is normally around 3 per cent," PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said.
"The fact that in Adelaide, we're well below 1 per cent at this point shows what a crisis we're in at the moment."
Nationally there was a "modest rise" in the number of homes available for rent in March, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all recording slight increases in vacancy rates.
But those rates worsened in Darwin — which nevertheless still has the highest vacancy rate — and Canberra.
Perth's vacancy rate was the worst in Australia in February, but the city had since recorded a bigger rise than its interstate counterparts, to 0.86 per cent.
Adelaide's vacancy rate has remained under 1 per cent since September 2021 — longer than any other capital city.
Ms Flaherty said there had been a "significant reduction" in available rental since the pandemic, and warned there was no short-term relief on the way for renters.
"Since March 2020, there's been a 44 per cent reduction in the total number of rental properties sitting vacant," she said.
"There's just so few rental properties out there.
"When those that become vacant do come up, we're seeing very high levels of competition among renters."
Young people priced out
Adelaide doctor Mirella Taylor, 25, and project manager Sarah Mortimer, 28, are among those who know that situation all too well.
"I'm a doctor," Ms Taylor said — but "still can't get a house," Ms Mortimer added.
They have been to at least 10 house inspections over the past two months as they continue to search for a share house.
"We currently live in a house in Parkside that we love, but our landlord, I think, is struggling with rising interest [rates] … so he's planning to Airbnb our house out," Ms Mortimer said.
The project manager said that, in the meantime, their landlord was increasing their rent.
"We didn't really want to do that — so, we've been actively been looking for a household."
Ms Taylor added young people were losing out in the current rental market.
"It just prices young people out of being able to afford to move into locations that are even semi-convenient for work," she said.
"Everyone's just trying to find a place to live, which is a bit hard."
'Chicken-and-egg problem'
Following the introduction of new rules in March, rental prices in South Australia can only be raised once a year.
The government has also introduced laws banning landlords and real estate agents from soliciting bids for rental properties, and Real Estate Institute of South Australia chief executive officer Andrea Heading said anyone found to be doing so faced "major fines".
"Agents and property managers and landlords can't start a bidding war, for example, across rentals," she said.
"Once some of the reforms are introduced, hopefully that will help the market settle a little bit, too."
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