Bondi v Byron Bay: The differing impact of COVID-19 on rents and property prices | smh_andrew
The COVID-19 crisis caused double-digit declines in rental prices in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, but fuelled massive rent rises in Byron Bay, as a report finds rental affordability improves “significantly in the absence of Airbnb”.
The report’s authors, Bill Randolph, a professor in the University of NSW’s City Futures Research Centre, and William Thackway, found significant falls in rents and Airbnb listings in Sydney’s beach suburbs such as Bondi Beach and Bronte, before rental prices stabilised in 2021. “However, with the return of global travel and housing reform seemingly off the political agenda for the foreseeable future, housing affordability prospects for both the rental and home-buyer market seemingly face significant pressure,” the report said. “On the other hand, regional areas have been hit hard on both fronts.”
Airbnb’s share of the rental market in Bondi Beach and North Bondi dropped from 32.1 per cent pre-COVID to 25.7 per cent in the “recovery period”, which the report defines as the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, while rents went up 3.7 per cent after initially falling more than 10 per cent.
Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW, said rents were beginning to return to pre-COVID levels in areas such as Bondi, while much of regional NSW and Sydney’s outer suburbs were in “affordability freefall”.