Apparently the hosuing shortage is a myth... Empty homes now for all to see - National - smh.com.au bubblepedia.net.au : HomePage
That's strange, I had nearly 20 rental applications for 1 of my IP's that became vacant, maybe I am dreaming....
He has a very naieve view of the world I think. There are always a few empty houses around - most for perfectly good reasons. We have a block of empty units down the street from us at the moment - but that's because they are being redeveloped and brought up to scratch (they were in very poor condition). The house next door to us has been vacant for over 12 months - but that's because it sold and the new owners are wanting to extend it. All of these things take time. I'll pretty much guarantee you that the suburbs I own property in have one or two vacant properties - but tenanting them is not going to help property prices much when (like BV) I'm getting dozens of applications for any of my properties when they become vacant. I've never seen rental demand this strong outside of the peak January/February letting period.
What the article didn't say was how long these houses have been vacant for. Every week I inspect vacant homes, put up by their owners (who've moved on or moved the tenants out) for sale. Not everyone necessarily wants tenants to remain when selling, as they can actually be detrimental (depends on what type of tenants they are )
