Karma time for tenants as apartments lie vacant and rents plummet

Rents have dropped 19.6% in Sydney CBD and 17.5% in Melbourne CBD over the past year, studies find.

In city centres across Australia, where rents have kept rising for years, thousands of apartments lie vacant.

Over the past 12 months rents have dropped 19.6% in the Sydney CBD and 17.5% in the Melbourne CBD, according to data from Suburbtrends.com.

In Melbourne under stage four restrictions, where in-person inspections are banned but moving house is permitted, inner-city vacancies have skyrocketed. Vacancies rose 20% between July and August, and a huge 140% compared with August last year, according to data from Corelogic.