More than 10,000 rental properties have disappeared from the Victorian market in the past year, rental bond data has revealed. Areas like Port Phillip, Boroondara and Stonington have each seen drops of up to 2,000 active rental bonds since 2017, when the government announced a major overhaul of tenancy laws.
Property Investment Professionals of Australia chair Cate Bakos told Yahoo Finance thatVictoria had experienced a “massive exodus” of investors over the last few years, and she suspects the trend will continue.
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One landlord, Joseph, went viral this week after he phoned Melbourne radio station 3AW Drive to air his frustrations about current government policies and regulations for property investors like him.
He said he owned 10 investment properties in the state with long-term tenants and was now planning to sell them all.
“I’m sick and tired of getting pounded into the ground by this government introducing new taxes, new fees, new regulations. It is ridiculous,” he said.
“It is at the stage now where I will never, ever, ever invest in Victoria again.”
“This state has gotten to the point where if you’re productive, if you’re law-abiding, if you do the right thing, we’ll pound you into the ground,” he said.
“We’ve disincentivised our investors harder than any other state or territory,” she told Yahoo Finance.
PIPA’s Annual Property Investor Sentiment Survey found 16.7 per cent of investors had sold at least one property in 2025, up from 14.1 per cent in 2024 and 12.1 per cent in 2023.
Bakos said land tax was a major “pain point” and a “nail in the coffin” for many investors in Victoria, with the government dropping the tax-free threshold from $300,000 to $50,000 in 2024.
“Minimum rental standards have increased, so we’ve got some really onerous reforms and some really warranted ones as well,” Bakos said.
PIPA chair Cate Bakos said land tax and minimum standards were putting pressure on landlords in Victoria. (Source: PIPA)
“But we’ve had such a huge number of reforms that a lot of investors can’t afford to bring their property up to that new standard, so they’re having to sell them.”
Victoria most recently introduced new regulations in November, which require rental properties to meet minimum standards before they are advertised.
Other changes included a ban on “no reason” evictions, crackdowns on rental bidding, longer notice periods for rent increases and notices to vacate.
Bakos also pointed to the removal of the landlord’s ability to give a 120-day “no specified reason” notice to vacate.
“I think they’ve just felt like they’ve lost total control of their asset,” she said.
Bakos warned the state wasn’t seeing a drop in the number of tenants in the market, so a drop in landlords offering rentals would “only do one thing”.
“Supply and demand will dictate that rents will go up,” she said.
However data released this month from Cotality shows Melbourne asking rents have risen just 3.5 per cent over the past 12 months, the third smallest increase off all the major cities, just above Adelaide and Canberra. Meanwhile rents in regional Victoria were up 3.6 per cent on the year.
The 3AW caller’s heated speech has divided Aussies online.
Some agreed with the landlord’s stance, saying he had “nailed it”.
“He is 100 per cent spot on. It’s the investors like him that are supplying rentals. The government are not. The government should be thanking all residential investors not treating them like crap,” one said.
“Totally agree with him,” another said.
“70 per cent of landlords have one investment property, and most have an income of less than $100,000 per year,” another claimed.
But his lament didn’t exactly sit well with others, with some arguing it was a good thing if landlords sell property as it’ll free up more homes for first home buyers to enter the market.
“So….he is going to sell, so more properties on the market, reducing property prices. Seems like a decent result to me,” one person commented.
“Maybe if some people didn’t have so many investment properties, raising the prices, more of us hard-working people might be actually able to buy just one,” another said. “If you have more than one property, stop whining!! Us renters are paying off all your investments and not having anything to show for it!”
“Oh my heart bleeds,” another sarcastically offered.
PIPA’s survey found 42 per cent of sold properties were snapped up by another investor, while 37 per cent were bought by owner-occupiers and 25 per cent by first home buyers.
