The Sydney residential marketing is favouring renters with availability on the rise across all metropolitan areas, according to research from the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.

REINSW President Leanne Pilkington said the December 2018 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw metropolitan Sydney vacancy rates up 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 per cent. 

“The rise was driven by Middle Sydney which jumped 1.6 per percentage points to 5.1 per cent and Inner Sydney which rose 0.5 percentage points to 3.0 per cent. Outer Sydney increased 0.3 percentage points to 3.3 per cent. 

“Our feedback from agents suggests that the market is being flooded with new units making older units more difficult to rent. 

“As a result agencies are using tactics such as decreasing rent prices and offering free rent periods to secure tenants,” Ms Pilkington said. 

Meanwhile, in Wollongong the vacancy rate remained steady at 2.7 per cent, while other area’s in the Illawarra fell 2.0 percentage points at 1.0 per cent and contributed to an overall decline of 1.2 percentage points at 1.5 per cent. 

In the Hunter, vacancy rates rose 0.3 percentage points to 1.9 per cent with Newcastle up 0.1 percentage points to 1.9 per cent. 

Across regional areas, Albury fell 0.4 percentage points at 2.2 per cent, New England dropped 0.1 percentage points at 1.9 per cent while Central Coast jumped added 0.1 per cent to 2.0 per cent.