Houses for rent increase over holiday period

The rental market across New South Wales has eased slightly, but experts say this is a temporary situation.

Houses for rent and units for rent across the Waratah State are more prevalent with the overall vacancy increasing by 0.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent.

The December Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) Vacancy Rate Survey found that across the Sydney metropolitan area, vacancy rates increased with middle and outer suburbs recording a 0.2 per cent rise to 2.3 and 1.8 per cent respectively.

But the president of the REINSW, Christian Payne, said that it is not expected that this will last, given the change is more cyclical.

He commented: "These increases are unlikely to last as traditionally January and February are peak periods for change all over the state as school leavers, university students and people moving jobs settle into new properties.

"In 2013, we expect the vacancy rate to quickly reduce back to the tight levels seen in 2012 due to the rising population and lack of new housing developments."

Outside of the Sydney area, the Mid North Coast has the tightest real estate rental market, with overall vacancies dropping 0.2 per cent in December to 1.8 per cent.