Landlords have been offering properties rent free for up to a month in a bid to lure increasingly picky tenants into leases.
It comes as new figures revealed a surprising turn in the real estate market with many parts of Sydney recording a large increase in rental vacancies.
The largest supply of available rentals tended to be areas dominated with high-rise units, along with popular beach locations.
Many of these areas had recently become “tenant’s markets” – with tenants able to dictate terms because the supply of available rentals outweighed demand.
More tenants were also grouping together in share houses, Mr Christopher said.
“People are sharing the rental burden and that has freed up stock,” he said, adding that there was a small degree of seasonality to the weaker market: winter normally sees some lull in tenant demand.
“Overall, the supply of rentals across Sydney is still tight but a lot of the bad news for tenants is already priced in. Landlords have already increased their rents by large margins and it’s reached a point where they cannot increase them further and expect to attract tenants.
“Some landlords have even gone above the market and they will be the ones who will have to adjust their rents down.”
