The Sydney rental market has slowed, according to research from the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.

REINSW Deputy President Brett Hunter said the June 2018 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw a general increase in vacancy rates across the Sydney metropolitan area.

“The Sydney vacancy rate rose 0.3 percentage points with rises of 0.4 percentage points in both Inner and Middle Sydney at 3.0 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively, while Outer Sydney remained steady at 2.4 per cent.

“Agents reported fewer enquiries coming through due to the approach of the Winter season,” Mr Hunter said.

“An oversupply of apartments is also affecting Middle Sydney.”

In the Hunter, vacancy rates rose 0.3 percentage points to 1.9 per cent, led by Newcastle which rebounded 0.5 percentage points to 2.4 per cent. The Illawarra gained 0.1 percentage points to 2.5 per cent with Wollongong increasing 0.2 percentage points to 2.3 per cent.

Across regional areas, the Central Coast fell 0.1 percentage points at 2.0 per cent, Northern Rivers added 0.2 percentage points to 1.5 per cent and New England gained 0.4 percentage points to 2.3 per cent.

* Suburbs included in ‘inner’, ‘middle’ and ‘outer’ Sydney are those falling within the Sydney Statistical Division as per the Australian Standard Geographic Classification of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

‘Inner’ includes suburbs in the following LGAs: Ashfield, Botany Bay, Lane Cove, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Mosman, North Sydney, Randwick, Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.

‘Middle’ includes suburbs in the following LGAs: Auburn, Bankstown, Burwood, Canterbury, Canada Bay, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Kogarah, Ku-ring-gai, Manly, Parramatta, Rockdale, Ryde, Strathfield and Willoughby.

‘Outer’ includes suburbs in the following LGAs: Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Hornsby, Liverpool, Penrith, Pittwater, Sutherland, Warringah, Wollondilly and Wyong.