In short:

The number of active rentals in Victoria fell by almost 22,000 properties this year, suggesting investors are selling up.

It's being attributed to higher rental standards and increased land taxes in Victoria.

What's next?

It's feared the sell-up will make the market even tighter for renters

The survey described a "sell-off of investment properties around the nation" that was "continuing unabated" and "fuelling fears of an even tighter rental market".

The outlook may be grim for investors, but home owners appeared to be benefiting, snapping up 65 per cent of the properties investors sold, according to PIPA.

First homebuyers in Melbourne have also enjoyed months of falling prices, while most of the rest of the country has experienced continued increases.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless labelled falls in rental bonds "significant and surprising" but noted they had not brought the expected rent increases.

Am I going crazy here, or are they just describing that more people are becoming owner-occupiers? The houses 'coming out of the rental market' aren't being set on fire or blown up, people are buying them and living in them...

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[–] jonne@infosec.pub 19 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Yep, and it's giving first time home buyers a chance to buy one of those ex rentals. I did.

Landlords don't actually build houses, they buy existing stock and squeeze all the value out of them with minimal maintenance.

[–] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 0 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Renting is significantly cheaper than owning. If the landlord does their part with maintenance, it's the better option for many people.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 4 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Not in my case, my mortgage is pretty much the same as what I was paying in rent for a similar house in the same area. And in a few years that mortgage will only become a smaller part of my income instead of growing.

[–] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Congrats! But the mortgage is just one part of the costs of ownership. Many people spend lots on rates, water, repairs, upgrades, etc.

[–] threeduck@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Renters have to pay for their own water. I've lived in rentals for 15 years, and never saw a landlord do "upgrades" on my house. Didn't stop them from upping the prices every opportunity they could. I'll give you rates and repairs, although if landlords hadn't scalped all the properties I'm sure people could afford to shop around to buy a better built property.

[–] DavidDoesLemmy@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Landlords have to pay for water connection to the property. It works out to around $700 per year.

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