Townsville bucks trend with just three suburbs recording rent drops

Rents have soared by as much as 6.25 per cent in Townsville in just three months, with just three suburbs recording a drop in asking prices. How did your suburb rank?

Rents have soared by as much as 6.25 per cent in Townsville in just three months, with just three suburbs recording a drop in asking prices.

Of the 29 suburbs analysed across the region, the latest PropTrack Rent Report shows that median weekly asking rents have increased across 19 suburbs while nine remained unchanged.

The biggest rent hike over the quarter was recorded for units in Cranbrook, with tenants being charged, on average, $20 more per week than they were in April.

It was followed by houses in Vincent, where the median asking rent rose 4.76 per cent to $440 a week, Railway Estate and West End (+4.17% to $500), and Mount Louisa and Cosgrove (+4% to $520).

An aerial photograph of Townsville, looking across Ross Creek towards the CBD, Castle Hill and Rowes Bay.

Other standout unit suburbs included Hyde Park (+3.03% to $340), Hermit Park (+2.94% to $350) and Rosslea (+2.86% to $350).

At the other end of the spectrum, just three suburbs recorded a decrease in asking rents - Belgian Gardens (units), Gulliver (houses) and Railway Estate (units).

But double-digit rent growth has been recorded across 10 suburbs over 12 months, from houses in Railway Estate (+18.34%) to units in Aitkenvale (+10.94%).

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Rents fell in a total of 236 suburbs across Queensland during the July quarter, the analysis revealed.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said the drop in rents in some suburbs was welcome news for tenants, with many of their metrics showing that the rental pressure was finally easing in some areas.

“We have seen a big increase in investor borrowing which leads to more stock on the market, more first home buyers exitingthe market which also frees up rental stock and more people being forced into sharehouses or back home with family becauserental affordability is no longer viable for many,” he said.

“Inflation and cost of living is still high, and people just don’t have the capacity to pay some of the rents being asked.”

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher

According to the Residential Tenancies Authority, the median rent for all Queensland dwellings - houses and units combined - is now $580 a week, up from just $350 a decade ago.

But Mr Kusher cautioned that number was likely higher, based on their own analysis of advertised asking prices.

“Anything over $500-plus a week is probably the norm now, definitely,” he said.

The PropTrack data shows that the median asking rent in Queensland ranges from $460 a week in Toowoomba to $740 a week onthe Gold Coast.

It is $460 in Townsville, $500 in Cairns and Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday, $585 in Brisbane and $680 on the Sunshine Coast.

Across the state, the biggest decrease in rents over the quarter was for units in Dalby (-14.29%), while the biggest increase, also for units, was recorded in Rockhampton (+13.75%).

It comes after a new report revealed that vacancy rates held steady across Australia in July, dropping 0.01 percentage pointsto1.42 per cent.

But the same could not be said for Brisbane, where the vacancy rate fell 0.05 percentage points to 1.16 per cent.

Regional Queensland vacancy rates remained unchanged at 1.27 per cent, slightly below the regional average of 1.28 per centnationally, according to PropTrack.

Since March 2020, vacancy rates have tanked across Queensland, down 47 per cent in Greater Brisbane and 48 per cent in the combined regions.

According to the REIQ Residential Vacancy Rate Report, the housing situation remains dire in a number of LGA’s, including Cook, Goondiwindi, Charters Towers, Tablelands, Banana, Maranoa, Southern Downs, Maryborough and Central Highlands, where vacancy rates range from effectively zero to 0.5 per cent.

“We know competition is particularly intensified at the highly sought after, more affordable end of the market,” REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella

The latest PropTrack Market Insight Report, released this week, showed the number of homes available to rent in Townsville increased 0.07 percentage points in July to 1.43 per cent.

Meanwhile, SuburbTrends recently revealed that Queensland’s rental pain - income requried to pay rent - was among the worst in the nation.

“The real drivers of this problem are the huge disconnect between population growth and housing supply,” SuburbTrends founder Kent Lardner said.

Queensland’s Rental Pain Index (RPI) was 83 in July, well above the national RPI of 72.

But there is good news for renters, with SQM Research recently revealing that Australian capital city asking rents had recorded their largest monthly rental falls since the outbreak of Covid.

“The falls were broad based, with the larger falls recorded in our larger capital cities and regional coastal locations,” SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said.

“It should be noted of course that rents are still very high and this retracement is minor compared to the massive rise in rents recorded around the country since 2021.

“And it should also be stated that the rental crisis is still not yet over ... but still, this will be somewhat welcoming to tenants and as a research house, we do believe the market rental rises of 10 to 20 per cent per annum are now over.”

Originally published as Townsville bucks trend with just three suburbs recording rent drops