The REIV July residential vacancy rates release shows that there has been a slight improvement in the vacancy rate in most parts of Victoria.
REIV research and analysis reveal that the vacancy rate in Melbourne has eased from 1 per cent in June to 1.3 per cent in July and the rate for Victoria has eased from 1.3 to 1.5 per cent.
The areas with the tightest vacancy rate are the inner city, within 4km of the CBD and the middle ring of suburbs, those between 10 and 20 km. In those two areas the vacancy rate is 1.1 per cent.
Suburbs between 4 and 10km recorded the greatest improvement with the rate increasing from 0.5 to 1.3 per cent which is more in line with the months before June.
The outer suburbs of Melbourne recorded a vacancy rate of 1.6 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent in June.
Whilst there has been a slight easing in the vacancy rate this does not yet represent a substantial change in the market. Towards the end of 2007 the vacancy rate also eased to 1.6 per cent before spending five months at or under 1 per cent. Accordingly there is still a need for increased investment in the property market in order to restrain upwards pressure on rents and to provide tenants with a greater level of choice over the location and style of property they are able to live in.
Within regional Victoria the main centres continue to have vacancy rates similar to Melbourne. In the Geelong area the vacancy rate is 1 per cent, in Bendigo it is 1.7 per cent and in Ballarat it is 1 per cent.
The Wodonga area has the highest vacancy rate at 6.3 per cent.
