Demand for share accommodation is ramping up this year, with the number of people looking for a room already well ahead of the typical summer peak season.
According to Flatmates.com.au, there has been an 11.2 per cent increase in members joining the platform in the past month, up from a busy September and 15.6 per cent higher than October 2022.
New property listings on Flatmates.com.au have also jumped significantly, up 9.7 per cent over the month and 38 per cent in the past year, as the rising cost of living has driven people to look at new ways of generating additional income.
Flatmates.com.au Community Manager Claudia Conley said October was the fourth busiest month for the platform this year, behind the peak summer period.
“The volume of traffic we’ve seen on Flatmates.com.au in October we don’t usually see until December, indicating that demand for share accommodation is heating up well ahead of our peak season,” Ms Conley said.
Across the country, the beachside suburb of Clovelly, in Sydney, was the most in-demand location for people wanting share accommodation.
Currently, there are 516 people seeking rooms in the area, with nothing available.
The inner-city suburb of East Perth, in Western Australia, was also seeing heavy demand, with 350 people seeking a room but nothing available.
While Elizabeth Bay, in NSW, had 188 seekers and zero rooms available.
Other suburbs that had more than 100 people seeking rooms and no rooms included Curl Curl, South Coogee, City of Sydney and Barangaroo in Sydney.
While Mosman Park, Highgate and City Beach in Western Australia were all experiencing heavy demand for rooms.
Ms Conley said 2023 has been the busiest year on record for the platform, due to a record-breaking summer and without our typical seasonal winter slump.
“It’s clear more Australians are turning to share accommodation as pressures on the rental market and a cost-of-living crisis fail to die down,” she said.
She said that the number of people prepared to rent out a spare room is also on the rise.
“An increase in property listings by 38 per cent since the same time last year reflects the growing trend of homeowners renting out their spare rooms,” she said.
“Half of all property listings on Flatmates.com.au are from homeowners, with the majority of these being live-in landlords renting out a spare room in their home.
‘Despite this growing trend, more property listings are still needed across the country to keep up with the growing demand for share accommodation.”
