A slight dip in national residential vacancies has been recorded in October, reaching 2.1% or 62,947 vacancies.

Data from SQM Research showed last month as the second consecutive monthly decrease in rental listings off the back of a period of reasonable stability. But this appears to be a seasonal pattern which has been happening over the previous years, historical data also revealed.

The country’s year on year vacancy rates remain stable, notching a 0.1% increase when compared to October 2013.

On the city level, however, dramatic increases have been evident since this time last year. Perth’s vacancy rates were up by 0.9% and Darwin’s up by 2.1%. These rates were attributed to the downturn in mining boom, the report said.

Sydney, on the other hand, is a different story altogether.

“Sydney appears to be the strongest rental market right now with asking rents (for houses) up by 6.8% for the past 12 months, though I am expecting rental growth to slow in 2015 due to the increased completion of new stock on the market for that city,” said Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM. 

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