A picture of numerous people arriving during a rental inspection has brought attention to Sydney’s housing issue.
The image was taken outside the Meriton Suites World Tower on Liverpool Street in the Central Business District. Up to 20 people were seen.
As they examined a one-bedroom apartment with a study that was listed for $720 a week, the group gathered around the real estate agent.
There is another apartment in the building that is available to rent for $1,180 a week and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Reddit users were quick to share their own stories of struggle to find housing after the picture was posted there.
One person wrote, “There’s a sense that non-renters don’t know that is so discouraging.”
It occurs when you approach an apartment or house, especially if you’re eager to move in, and see a lengthy line of people wrapping around the block.
Another person chimed in, saying, “It’s the same in other Sydney areas as well.”
I attended an open house in Ashfield over the week, and there were about 20 couples present.
In Australia, annual rent growth reached a 14-year high while housing supply continued to shrink.
The national rental index increased 0.9% in the month of June and 2.9% for the June quarter, according to CoreLogic’s Quarterly Rental Review.
According to Kate Colvin, a spokeswoman for Everybody’s Home, the low rental vacancy rates and interest rate increases are causing a rental shortage because investors are passing those increases on to renters.
Renters will engage in a Hunger Games-style competition for dwindling rental stock at higher than ever prices, she predicted, making the already challenging situation even worse.
This raises serious concerns because so many people are already living beyond their means.
According to CoreLogic data, house rents are up 10.8% in regional areas and 8.8% across all capital cities as of June 2021.
Unit rents have increased by 11.0% in regional areas and 9.8% in capital cities.
According to CoreLogic research analyst Kaytlin Ezzy, “this extended period of strong rental growth has seen national residences achieve the biggest yearly gain in rental values since December 2008.”