The opening of international borders and return of overseas students and migrants is already having an impact on Australia’s rental market and property prices.

Demand for inner city apartments in Sydney and Melbourne in particular have increased, as have rents.

Analysis by PropTrak, the research arm of realestate.com.au, shows increasing demand in the Melbourne and Sydney CBD and Inner South markets.

Inner city rents fell during the pandemic due to a lack of migrants and students when international borders were closed. As a result, rents in Melbourne CBD apartments dropped by almost 30% and in the Sydney CBD by 13%.

The PropTrak analysis shows the number of people from overseas searching for rentals in the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs is now back to pre-pandemic levels.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show 28,000 international students arrived in Australia in January 2022 compared with 360 in January 2021.

At the same time almost 15,000 expats and 8,000 permanent migrants arrived.