Historically, February is typically one of the busiest leasing months of the year, however this February we have witnessed a rapid change in market conditions with noticeably fewer vacate notices received from existing tenants, resulting in lower rental stock. When you couple this with the stronger enquiry levels the result is lower vacancy rates.
Vacancy Rates for the inner suburbs (provided by REI NSW) have been hovering around the 1.0% to 1.5% for the last 2 years. Since the first week of January 2010 we have seen the vacancy rates across our portfolio rapidly decrease from 2.1% down to 0.53% by the end of February. (Refer to graph)
Visit our website if you wish to view our current vacancy rate (updated weekly).
So what does this mean for you? This equates to increased rent and more dollars in your pocket. In the last week of February hundreds of rents were reviewed and increase notices issued to your tenants if they were on a periodic or ending fixed term lease.
We are now recommending lease terms of 6 months for the most part, allowing for more frequent rent reviews. For our clients that seek greater security by locking a tenant in on a 12 month lease, we will attempt to negotiate a rent increase half way through the lease term.
Are you aware of the Draft Residential Tenancies Bill 2009. There are a number of significant changes in this document that will affect you. I will be highlighting some of the proposed changes in our next edition. For more information on this 152 page document, click here to view on our website.
Until next time, take care.
-Bernie Mitchell
