It's raining rental listings!

I am disappointed in the choice of date format.

Roundhead89 said :

Why does the bell curve on the graph go up and down so wildly? Why does it go down to almost zero then shoot right up then down again then up again?

Because it really wanted to be a merry-go-round, but only got the hang of the up and down movement.

Roundhead89 said :

Why does the bell curve on the graph go up and down so wildly? Why does it go down to almost zero then shoot right up then down again then up again?

The graphs conclusively disprove the existence of so-called ‘climate change’.

Why does the bell curve on the graph go up and down so wildly? Why does it go down to almost zero then shoot right up then down again then up again?

Agnes said :

I can confirm that as a not so evil landlord (by my own unbiased assessment), who has just been through the process of getting new tenants- it’s taking a while for those new listings to shift, and that landlords are reducing rent in order to get tenants. All the new stock is providing a lot of competition. Sensible owners will realise that the way to get a tenant in is to market it an attractive rent rather than hold out in the hope of maintaining the status quo. It’s the market at work – and it’s cooling down from what was unrealistic to maintain over the long term. Owners should be glad they had it so good for so long.

A steady, orderly (here’s hoping) deflation of the local property market might just make this town a little more affordable for people who do not have a high income – which, if it happens, should be of real assistance with the ACT Government’s hopes to encourage other sectors of the economy to offset the federal cuts.

Hmm, if they are just the listing that are shown in that graph (not those that are also let) then it does not provide true statistics. From previous reading of rentals around now is the lease cycle. A lot of landlords let their properties around January/February when there is usually a flux of new people coming to Canberra (e.g. Graduates and Students). When I was reading about this the consensus was that it was difficult to find rental accomodation between January and April as there was a lot of competition. Really comparative data needs to be had over years not just two months.

An example of this is that more people sell their houses in Spring compared to say Winter, which is why they say ‘Seasonally Adjusted’ for the figures.

enrique said :

I wonder how much of this is due to the normal end of year exodus of uni students, academics and temporary/contract staff.

Are you able to expand the timescale to include several prior years?

A lot of it is seasonal. If you look at the vacancy data provided by SQM Research, you can see a distinct jump in vacancies in December (and to a lesser extent January) each year.

Stock on the market is nevertheless very elevated relative to this time in previous years.

I wonder how much of this is due to the normal end of year exodus of uni students, academics and temporary/contract staff.

Are you able to expand the timescale to include several prior years?

Related tip for existing renters: if your lease is up for renewal soon, now’s the time to ask for a rent reduction. I got mine reduced by $55 pw.

They look like fountains, not rain.