"The inner city is still showing signs of supply slowly entering the market place."
There are fewer rental properties currently available for tenants across greater Sydney, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.
The August 2015 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw the number of properties for rent across Sydney retreat 0.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent. Middle Sydney, which includes Auburn, Bankstown, Burwood, Canterbury, Canada Bay, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Kogarah, Ku-ring-gai, Manly, Parramatta, Rockdale, Ryde, Strathfield and Willoughby local government areas, dropped 0.2 per cent 1.5 per cent. Outer Sydney, consisting of Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Hornsby, Liverpool, Penrith, Pittwater, Sutherland, Warringah, Wollondilly and Wyong local government areas, remained steady at 1.6 per cent.
Inner Sydney bucked the trend with a rise of 0.1 per cent at 2.2 per cent. “The inner city is still showing signs of supply slowly entering the market place. This is the area where the first developments started and it is really beginning to mature," said REINSW President Malcolm Gunning. “Middle Sydney’s fall highlights that tenants are seeking affordability, while the outer areas are where the jobs are.
" The Hunter region saw a decline of 0.6 per cent to 3.1 per cent after Newcastle dropped 0.8 per cent to 3.0 per cent. The overall vacancy rate in the Illawarra region fell 0.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent, led by a fall of 0.5 per cent to 0.9 per cent in Wollongong. The regional areas saw Albury down 0.3 per cent to 1.9 per cent, the Central Coast was down 0.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent and New England slipped 0.6 per cent to 4.0. per cent.