The one major influence on rental activity is a change in employment conditions, and we have witnessed COVID-19 impacting the rental market. Renters, especially in Sydney city and Inner Sydney are often casual workers in hospitality, retail, entertainment, and travel industries that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.
The number of advertised properties has doubled (or tripled) in some suburbs causing supply to increase and prices to decrease.
Last month we had the highest number of vacate notices and lease breaks in the history of our agency! We’ve noticed most other agencies have a high number of properties available for lease as well.
However, we are pleased to report that rentals are still moving! We are not at a stand-still, we are most definitely making progress. April has been a very interesting month for us, we’ve had to stay on our toes, move fast, think outside the box, and act proactively.
Here is what our April 2020 figures look like:
- We leased out 25 properties in April – that’s 52% more properties than our average month
- Average rent is down by 27.4%
- Current stock levels (properties for rent) are 65% more than usual
- Average time on market was 28 Days – that’s only 1 week more than usual
What we are doing for our rentals that is working:
1. Being Proactive
At Metro Realty, you don’t just have one property manager looking after your property, you have a whole team! Even the sales team have been pitching in over the last few weeks to meet the heightened importance of leasing property.
Our leasing team are strong negotiators; they know how to speak to tenants and find out what it would take to make a deal happen. We don’t let anyone slip through the cracks, and we make the most of every tenant who enquires.
Tenant Activity:
Enquiries: 581
Inspections: 134
Tenants Inspected: 212
Applications received: 86
2. Assessing enquiry level and adjusting asking prices
We started assessing and adjusting our rental prices early on and took a good look at each property individually so we could come up with a tailored strategy to get them leased out.
3. Virtual Tour and Property Videos
With the ban on open inspections, we ordered a virtual tour or a video for all our vacant properties so they were available for inspection 24/7.
We have also noticed tenants show more preference and interact with a property with a virtual tour over ones without.
April Leasing Results List
- 235-237 Carlingford Road, Carlingford (2,2,1) $400
- 317 Castlereagh Street, Sydney (1,1,1) $500
- 317 Castlereagh Street, Sydney (1,1,0) $480
- 8 Cooper Street, Surry Hills (1,1,1) $550
- 158-166 Day Street, Sydney (2,2,1) $730
- 20 Gadigal Ave, Zetland (1,1,1) $550
- 569-581 George Street, Sydney (1,1,1) $570
- 55 Hackett St, Ultimo (3,1,0) $550
- 91 Liverpool St, Sydney (1,1,0) $435
- 91 Liverpool St, Sydney (1,1,0) $500
- 93 Liverpool St, Sydney (1,1,1) $500
- 2106/91 Liverpool Street, Sydney (1,1,0) $500
- 420 Pitt Street, Sydney (1,1,0) $500
- 170 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont (1,1,0) $520
- 170 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont (1,1,0) $450
- 1 Steam Mill Lane, Haymarket (1,1,0) $580
- 16 Warburton St, Gymea (1,1,1) $400
- 71-75 Regent Street, Chippendale (1,1,0) $460
- 35 Shelley St, Sydney (1,1,0) $550
- 6-8 Buckingham Road, Killara (2,2,1) $580
- 80 Fig Street, Pyrmont (2,2,1) $800
- 313 Harris St, Pyrmont (1,1,1) $480
- 1504/50 Murray Street, Sydney (2,2,1) $750
- 178 Thomas Street, Haymarket (1,1,0) $495
- 4 Tuckwell Place, Macquarie Park (3,2,2) $560
