Media Release
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria Ltd
Telephone (03) 9205 6666
ABN 81 004 210 897
Thursday 22 May 2008
Rental vacancies drop to critically low level
REIV CEO Enzo Raimondo said today that the April REIV rental report revealed the vacancy rate for
residential properties within 4km of the Melbourne CBD has dropped to an all time low of 0.3 per cent.
“The report highlights what many prospective tenants already know, that it is virtually impossible to find
a residential property to lease in the inner city.
“People looking to secure a rental property in suburbs such as Carlton, Docklands, Southbank, Fitzroy
and Richmond have little choice but to look further out from the CBD.
“The state of the market is continuing to place significant pressure on prospective tenants, As a
community we urgently need more rental properties particularly in the inner city.
“The initiatives for the state and federal governments in the areas of planning and financial incentives
are welcome but there will be a significant lag time before they will take effect.
“The vacancy rate in Victoria’s key regional centers has also contracted further. In the Geelong region
the vacancy rate has dropped from 1.1 per cent in March to 0.7 in April, in the Bendigo region it has
dropped from 2.7 to 2.5 per cent and in Ballarat the vacancy rate is now 0.8 per cent down from 1.2
per cent last month,” Mr Raimondo concluded.
Apr
Mar
Feb
Apr
2008
2008
2008
2007
MELBOURNE Inner (0-4km)
0.3
0.6
0.5
1.3
Inner (4-10km)
1.6
0.9
1.0
1.0
Inner Total
0.9
0.8
0.8
1.1
Middle
1.0
1.2
1.0
1.6
Outer
1.1
0.9
1.0
1.4
MELBOURNE TOTAL
1.0
0.9
0.9
1.4
GEELONG, REGION & BARWON
0.7
1.1
1.6
1.5
BENDIGO & LODDON
2.5
2.7
2.3
2.4
BALLARAT & CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
0.8
1.2
1.1
2.0
REGIONAL VICTORIA TOTAL
1.9
2.5
2.1
2.8
VICTORIA TOTAL
1.2
1.4
1.3
1.8
MEDIA COMMENT:
Chief Executive Officer: Enzo Raimondo, 9205 6666 or 0412 252 752.
CPR Communications and Public Relations, Robert Larocca, 9654 4799 or 0409 198 350
NEWS 
