http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/renting-a-home-no-chance-now/2008/03/19/1205602482946.html
MELBOURNE'S rental property drought has hit crisis levels after last month's vacancy rate fell below 1% for the first time on record. Rental accommodation in the central city has almost dwindled to zero.
Figures obtained by The Age reveal that the vacancy rate across Melbourne is 0.9%, a level not seen by the property industry since records began in the early 1980s.
For those wishing to live close to the city the situation is even more dire. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria says that, within four kilometres of the CBD, the vacancy rate dived to 0.5% last month. It was 0.6% in February last year.
"A rental vacancy rate below 1% is unprecedented," said REIV chief executive Enzo Raimondo, "and it increases the urgency for governments to take action to increase public and private investment in rental stock."
The surging demand for rental properties in Melbourne, particularly close to the city, is being fuelled by the state's growing population. About 1500 people are moving to Melbourne each week and experts predict that the city's population will hit 6.2 million by 2020, a decade earlier than forecast earlier. The State Government's Office of Housing has reported that median rents in metropolitan Melbourne rose 12.7% in the year to the September quarter.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says there are 447,074 rental homes in Melbourne. A 0.9% vacancy rate means about 4020 properties are available to be let.
People scrambling for a home are offering higher rents or using family and social networks to gain a favourable result from landlords.
Real estate agents are reporting being swamped at open-for-inspections in the inner city and surrounding inner suburbs such as South Yarra and Fitzroy.
"We may get as many as 50 people or more coming in for an open for inspection, and from that we can expect to get more than 10 applications for the one property," said Karetta Farmer from Dingle Partners.