Property experts warn Western Australia is facing a problem that has been “years in the making” as strong population growth and ongoing building delays pushed Perth’s rental vacancy rate down to 0.7 per cent in September, a decline of 0.1 percentage points from August.

New data has revealed WA made up almost a third of all property investment across the country in the first quarter of 2023.

Since January, Brisbane property prices have surged by an impressive 9.1 per cent, even in the face of high inflation and interest rates, and the capital growth looks set to continue.

At the annual Australian Financial Review Property Summit held earlier this month, Evan Thornley, the outspoken executive chair of property management company LongView, suggested it might be better for many real estate investors to forget buying homes and put their cash into super instead.

With the number of rental properties already critically low, new research shows a surge in the sale of rental dwellings over the past 12 months.

New legislation, increased taxation, and potential rental reforms, including rent freezes, have led to 12 per cent of Australian investors selling their properties, according to a new survey.

A quarter of Melbourne property investors sold a rental home in the past year, as the city was ranked the nation’s second worst capital to invest in. And it raises big issues for tenants.

Nearly 40 per cent of investors surveyed by a peak industry body have sold at least one Queensland rental property in the past year.

Australia is losing critical rental stock at a time when it’s needed more than ever due to record migration.

Wannabe Aussie homebuyers are being encouraged to consider alternative paths to ownership like ‘rentvesting’, or risk being locked out of the property market.

Home seekers who wait for spring bargains will likely end up empty-handed, and may struggle to get into the market later on, housing experts warn.

Property investors may benefit from more growth in values by targeting apartments over houses – especially in Sydney’s coastal areas and inner city suburbs.