With the majority of our concern focused on the sales market due to the Covid-19 crisis and the collapse of the tourism industry around the country, REIT President Mandy Welling said they were pleasantly surprised with the residential tenancy results. 

"The vacancy rate continued to experience consistency comparing March 2020 statistics with April 2020," said Ms Wellings.

"The current vacancy rate across the state is a modest 2.6 per cent.

At a Glance:

• Tasmania's current vacancy rate sits at 2.6 per cent
• Median rents across the state have remained stable as well
• Houses in the $300 per week bracket remained steady and units around $250 increased by $10 per week.

"Breaking this down into regions of the state, we have Hobart at 2.7 per cent (increased by 0.3), Launceston 2.2 per cent (steady) and the North West 2.9 per cent (down by 0.3 per cent)."

Ms Welling said median rents across the state remained relatively stable with the exception of houses between $320 and $430 per week and units between $280 and $350 resulting in a decrease in the region of $20 - $30 per week across the board.

Houses in the $300 per week bracket remained steady and units around $250 increased by $10 per week.

The number of properties leased around the state for the month was 250 which also represented a slight decrease on the previous month. 

"These figures represent a steady environment and a trend we hope will continue," said Ms Welling.

"With all the uncertainty and concerns surrounding the real estate market and the potential impact short stay homes might have on the market, this compounds the need for more housing. 

"REIT members have reported they have had a number of Air B&B properties returning to the long-term rental market as a result of the downturn in the tourism industry.

"These properties have eased pressure on the residential tenancy market for now, but it is clear there is still a desperate need for government to build/supply more social housing."

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