January 2023: vacancy at 0.8% and rents at +10% YoY

National vacancy rate fell to 0.8% in January 2023 — the lowest on record. Net overseas migration ran at 387,000 for calendar 2022, the strongest year since 2008. Demand was outpacing completions by roughly 70,000 dwellings per year.

The capital-value drawdown was almost entirely offset, for cash-flow purposes, by 10%+ rental growth. Net rental return on a new-build IP held in 2022 was actually higher in real terms than 2021 — a result that confused most casual investors and rewarded the disciplined ones.