In Australia, you can terminate a lease without issues if you intend to sell the property or move in yourself. However, in Melbourne, it's estimated (from wate

In Australia, you can terminate a lease without issues if you intend to sell the property or move in yourself. However, in Melbourne, it's estimated (from water usage analysis) that 20% (1) of investor owned properties are vacant (4.8 per cent of greater Melbourne's total housing stock and 18.9 per cent of all investor-owned housing stock). So I don't believe the 'restrictive rental regulations' are primarily to blame. Anecdotally, the inner-city 2 bedroom house (worth around A$1.5M) behind where I live has been unoccupied ever since I moved in ten years ago! I'm as baffled as you that people do this! (1) http://www.afr.com/real-estate/almost-20pc-of-melbournes-investorowned-homes-empty-20151203-glee9q http://www.afr.com/real-estate/almost-20pc-of-melbournes-inv...