Brisbane vacancy holds at 0.9 per cent as the national rate rises

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Kooky

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Brisbane's residential vacancy rate was 0.9 per cent in June 2026, unchanged from May, according to SQM Research's monthly figures released on 14 July. The research firm counted 3,065 vacant rental dwellings in the city.

Across the country the rate moved the other way. SQM's national vacancy rate rose from 1.2 per cent in May to 1.3 per cent in June, with 39,229 dwellings vacant against 37,844 a month earlier, an increase of 1,385.

SQM Research, vacancy rates for June 2026 and asking rents for the week ending 12 July 2026.

Where Brisbane sits among the capitals

SQM counts a home as vacant when its online rental listing has been advertised for three weeks or more, and compares that count with the total number of established rental properties. A home that lets within a fortnight never enters the figure.

The firm's methodology notes add two details. The count covers all the unique listings it monitors over a calendar month, and listings without an address are left out.

On that measure Brisbane is tighter than Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and looser than the four other capitals.

The national rise came from Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, each up 0.1 of a percentage point. Perth tightened. Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Darwin did not move. Every capital remains under 2 per cent, which SQM describes as below long-term averages and a sign of a persistent shortage of rental homes.

Brisbane's 3,065 vacant homes are about 7.8 per cent of the national count of 39,229. Sydney alone has almost four times as many.

The counts show the difference in scale between the cities. Perth and Adelaide together had 2,343 vacant homes, fewer than Brisbane alone, and Darwin had 64 in the whole city. At the other end, Sydney and Melbourne together account for 20,597, more than half the national total.

Adding the eight rows of the table gives 27,317 vacant dwellings in the capitals. The remaining 11,912, about 30 per cent of the national count, are in the rest of the country. SQM's release does not publish a single vacancy rate for regional Australia or for regional Queensland.

Rents are still climbing in Brisbane

SQM publishes asking rents with its vacancy figures, measured in the week ending 12 July. Brisbane's combined asking rent, for houses and units together, is $752.16 a week. It rose 1.0 per cent over the month and stands 9.1 per cent higher than a year earlier. SQM describes that as one of the strongest annual growth rates among the eastern capitals and links it to population growth supporting demand.

The comparison with the other capitals bears that out. Only Darwin, at 13.8 per cent, and Hobart, at 12.1 per cent, recorded faster annual growth in SQM's combined asking rents. Sydney's rose 7.6 per cent, Melbourne's 5.9 per cent, Canberra's 5.8 per cent, Perth's 5.0 per cent and Adelaide's 3.4 per cent. Among the three largest cities, Brisbane's rents are rising fastest.

The month itself split the capitals. Asking rents rose in Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra and Adelaide. They fell in Perth, by 1.6 per cent, in Hobart, by 0.9 per cent, in Sydney, by 0.4 per cent, and in Melbourne, by 0.3 per cent. Brisbane's 1.0 per cent was the largest monthly rise of the eight.

The national picture is a little softer over the month. SQM's national combined asking rent is $697.43 a week, down 0.4 per cent on the month and up 8.1 per cent over 12 months. House rents nationally eased 0.5 per cent over the month and are 8.7 per cent higher than a year ago; unit rents eased 0.2 per cent and are 7.1 per cent higher. The capital city average is $793.63 a week.

In dollars, Brisbane sits between the two national figures: about $55 a week above the national asking rent and about $41 below the capital city average. That average is pulled up by Sydney, where SQM puts the combined asking rent at $916.73 a week and house rents alone at $1,149.81.

So Brisbane moved against the national trend twice in one release: its vacancy rate held while the national rate rose, and its asking rents rose over the month while the national figure slipped.

What a rate under one per cent means

SQM's own description of Brisbane is that conditions remain extremely tight. A vacancy rate of 0.9 per cent means that, of every thousand rental homes, nine have been advertised for three weeks or more without a tenant.

For a household looking for a home, that translates into short advertising periods and several applicants for each property. For an owner or a property manager, it means a home priced in line with the market rarely sits empty, and the cost of a vacant week is seldom paid.

It does not mean every listing lets at any price. The Domain Rent Report published on 8 July found Brisbane's median asking rent for units flat over the June quarter while houses rose. A tight market and a ceiling on what tenants can pay can exist together.

SQM's commentary on the national figures makes a related point. The firm describes the market as still tight by historical standards despite the modest easing, and says a substantial increase in the supply of rental housing is needed to relieve the pressure on affordability. A rise of 1,385 vacant homes across the country in a month is, on that reading, a small movement in a large shortage.

Four measures of the same city

Vacancy rates differ between providers because each counts something different. In the first half of July, three firms published a figure for Brisbane, and the Real Estate Institute of Queensland's latest quarterly report gives a fourth.

The spread, from 0.6 to 1.9 per cent, comes from method and not from disagreement about the market. A review of vacancy measures published by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute in December 2025 sets out the differences. SQM and Domain both count listings that have been advertised for three weeks or more, SQM across the sites it monitors and Domain on its own. Cotality counts listings advertised for at least two weeks, which lets more homes qualify as vacant, and uses its own estimate of the rental stock.

The REIQ's report divides the city further. For the March quarter it put inner Brisbane at 1.1 per cent, the middle ring at 1.0 per cent and outer Brisbane at 0.8 per cent. The institute regards 2.6 to 3.5 per cent as the healthy range; the highest of the four readings, Cotality's 1.9 per cent, is still 0.7 of a percentage point below its lower edge.

Beyond the capital, the same REIQ report had the Gold Coast at 1.1 per cent, the Sunshine Coast at 0.7 per cent and Queensland as a whole at 0.9 per cent. The statewide figure happens to match SQM's June rate for Brisbane, though the two were built differently and cover different periods.

The REIQ's count of movements gives a sense of direction that a single rate cannot. Of the 50 Queensland areas it tracks, 24 tightened over the March quarter, 13 were unchanged and 13 eased. In the areas around the capital, it had Ipswich and Moreton Bay at 0.7 per cent and Logan at 0.8 per cent. Further north, Cairns stood at 1.0 per cent and Townsville at 1.1 per cent, and Noosa, at 1.9 per cent, was the loosest of the larger coastal markets. The institute's next quarterly report will cover the same three months as SQM's April, May and June releases.

Reading one flat month

The month-to-month comparison within one series is the reliable one. On SQM's series, June changed nothing for Brisbane. The capitals whose rates rose were Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, and the one that fell was Perth.

The count behind the rate is small enough to move quickly. With 3,065 homes vacant, a change of about 340 listings would shift Brisbane's rate by a tenth of a percentage point. Sydney's rate moved by that much in June.

One flat month says little about direction. SQM's next monthly release, covering July, will show whether the national easing reaches Queensland's capital or stays in the south.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →