The Australian residential rental real estate market is showing signs of recovery from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this has failed to allay the concerns of most tenants as to their futures, according to the latest study from real estate rental website Rent.com.au reveals.
According to the report, 40% of tenants now find it easier to manage their rents, up from 26% when the company conducted its first survey last March. However, only 11% of those polled feel optimistic about life after the pandemic, up from 15% in March.
"Shortly after our first survey was completed, we peaked the foreclosure period for most of Australia and, unsurprisingly, the number of renters looking for properties has increased. dropped immediately, ”says Greg Bader, CEO of Rent.com.au. "Towards the end of March and April, we started to see the real impact of these lockdowns on our own customer activities."
"But as restrictions have slowly eased across most of Australia (except places like Victoria), more and more tenants are starting to re-enter the market and more and more have returned. at work, making rent payments easier for much of the market. He said.
Has the Australian residential rental real estate market recovered?
According to Rent.com.au & # 39; s August survey, 24% of people say they remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up from 33% in March. This has resulted in an overall improvement in the way tenants manage their rents.
However, Bader says it's still difficult to say whether the country's overall residential rental real estate market has already recovered.
"Right now it's a real mix across states, which isn't surprising given the disparate levels of restrictions and take-back," he said. “In New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia we are seeing increased activity as economies start to open up. Tenant activity has almost returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. "
Bader says the situation is different in Victoria. “The restrictions have made it more difficult to move between properties, but there also appears to be a broader sense of uncertainty and concern in the community, with more emphasis on health, and the emphasis on health, employment and general well-being, ”he says.
What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rental real estate market in the future?
At the height of the pandemic, many tenants unsurprisingly postponed their plans to move. Almost half of those polled last March said they had put their relocation plans on hold indefinitely. That number fell to 26% in the recent survey, as restrictions ease and the employment situation for tenants improves.
However, Bader says it's still difficult to predict how this will affect the overall rental real estate market in the near future.
"The whole 'work from home' phenomenon has been really interesting, and many are predicting that it will impact the properties of CBD," he says. “People are looking for more or more room in their homes and they are less dependent on proximity to work. This should mean that the right properties in the 2-10k rings are working well, as they usually do. "
Bader adds that markets that rely heavily on international and intrastate renters are likely to struggle until travel restrictions are lifted.
He says Western Australia is one of the states experiencing an upsurge in the rental real estate industry.
"Western Australia has a really interesting market right now," he says. “It’s one of the states with the fewest (intrastate) restrictions and we are seeing rental stock at record levels. There are around 4,000 properties available for rent, about half of the number 12 months ago. "
Why do tenants feel less optimistic about the future?
Despite the general improvement in their financial situation, more tenants feel less secure about their future, according to the survey.
Only 11% of those polled felt optimistic about life after the pandemic, up from 15% in March. Bader says this feeling is the result of several factors.
"Many external factors give tenants the general feeling of less control than they would like," he says. “Factors like unemployment, uncertainty, changing rules on JobKeeper and JobSeeker and restrictions all play a role.
“But I think the main reason is that when COVID-19 first hit, most of us didn't expect the impact to be so deep or to continue for that long. . We also know that tenants are overindexing in the areas and locations that have been most affected by COVID-19. "
In the latest survey, Rent.com.au surveyed around 800 tenants to gain insight into the continuing impact of the pandemic on their ability to pay rent, how they thought state governments had them supported during the difficult times, and their plans and prospects for the future. The results are summarized in the infographic below.
