No end in sight for Townsville’s rental market woes

The news is not good for people struggling to secure a rental property in Townsville with the latest property data painting a bleak picture for 2022.

THE struggle is real to locate a rental property in Townsville with a local property expert describing the city’s current rental vacancy rate as “functionally is almost zero”.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) regards a rental vacancy rate of 2.6 to 3.5 per cent as “healthy”.

In the recently released REIQ Residential Vacancy Report for the December quarter, Townsville was languishing well below that range at 0.7 per cent – up 0.1 per cent on the September quarter.

Townsville’s tight vacancy rate is mirrored by population centres throughout regional Queensland with little indication of rates moving much anytime soon.

Changes over the past quarter were generally confined to 0.2 per cent up or down, with the exception of Burdekin which rose by +0.4 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

REIQ Townsville Zone Chair Ben Kingsberry said Townsville’s rental vacancy rate was “functionally almost zero”.

Harcourts Kingsberry Principal and REIQ’s Townsville Zone Chair Ben Kingsberry said there were more tenants out there than rental properties, with his phone ringing off the hook when the right rental property was listed - particularly family homes.

“If we had a good quality four-bedroom house available in that $400 to $500 bracket, it wouldn’t be surprising to get 40 different families that want to come and have a look at it,” Mr Kingberry said.

“If you’re looking at a two-bedroom unit, the market’s probably a little more balanced, so it depends on what style of home.”

He said there were a combination of reasons fanning the demand including population growth, recovering economy, Covid related relocation, and people being priced out of the capital cities.

“But a lot of it really is just because we have good employment opportunities and there’s a diverse range of industries and lifestyle that are attracting people back to the city,” he said.

In 2021, Merisse and Justin van Os and their son Conway were forced to live in a caravan park because they couldn't find a place to live. Picture: Evan Morgan

He expected the vacancy rate to remain very tight during 2022.

The key to fixing the problem was building more homes but Mr Kingsberry said there was a very limited economic case for someone to go and build an investment property due to high construction costs.

He hoped that the price of established properties would continue to rise, making building a new home a more viable option.

“We just need to see more supply of housing being built, we need to see the available properties increasing the number significant and that’s just not happening, keeping the market very tight,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the pressure that people are feeling on rent at the moment, probably needs to get worse before it gets better, because we need to see that supply start to come.”

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said Queensland’s rental property market was experiencing a “perfect storm”.

REIQ chief executive CEO Antonia Mercorella said she couldn’t recall a time where tight vacancy rates were so consistently and drastically low across Queensland.

“We’re experiencing the perfect storm of low housing supply levels, incredibly high interstate and intrastate migration particularly to our regions, longer length tenancies as tenants choose to stay put for greater security and certainty, and less shared tenancies as people want more space now they’re working from home,” Ms Mercorella said.

“We acknowledge that whilst current market conditions are favourable from an investor’s perspective, no one wants to see people struggling to find a place to live, forced into unsuitable housing (such as big families crammed in studio apartments), or living unsustainably outside of their means.

“Queensland needs additional housing supply to ease these tight conditions and accommodate the masses relocating to the state – and this supply simply can’t come soon enough.”

NQ duo’s ambitious project to make our stories immortal

THERE’S always something that you can learn when listening to someone, no matter their walk of life.

A North Queensland duo are tapping into that premise for their video sharing platform Project Immortality, which went live on January 16.

The platform gives people the opportunity to tell their life’s story or share lived experiences in long-form videos that others would then be able to watch and learn from.

In the garrison city of Townsville, the idea has the potential to allow current and former defence force members to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences and let others know that they are not alone in what they are going through.

Inspired by talkback radio interviews that ended just when they were getting interesting, Atherton Tablelands-based entrepreneur Michael Faydherbe pitched the concept to Townsville author and illustrator Matt B Lewis and his imagination was captured by the “epic idea”.

Project Immortality launched

Brainstorming and research followed, leading to the formation of the company and website that published its first videos this week.

“Everybody has a story to tell. They try and do biographies and that sort of stuff, but a lot of people can’t write books, but everyone can tell their story,” Mr Lewis said.

“We thought, let’s do something that’s a bit more robust and has longevity and can be used for families to keep a history of their families alive through the ages.”

He said they were also providing a platform that will help individuals with lived experiences share their stories with a wider audience, allowing others in a similar situation to see they were not alone and that help and support mechanisms were available.

Australian Defence Force could share their experiences on Project Immortality, helping others going through similar challenges.

“Lived experience includes military service, first responders, mental health, domestic violence, abuse, LGBTIQ+, PTSD, refugees, First Nations people and people living with a disability,” he said.

“Eventually, hopefully, we’ll be able to be a researchable sort of database for historical records of genealogy and that sort of stuff.”

Mr Lewis said they would initially be recording and editing together conversations before accepting footage sent in to them, and eventually launching a mobile app similar to YouTube.

Project Immortality launched

Up to an hour-and-a-half long, each video segment would be filmed for free, and would be freely accessible by their subjects.

The intention was to establish a subscription model where other viewers paid about five dollars a month to watch the videos.

“We’ll have to be moderated. We don’t want to have propaganda type stuff or political rants, just personal stories is what we’re aiming for,” he said.

The initiative already has the backing of former-soldier and Federal member for Herbert Phillip Thompson and Katter’s Australian Party founder Bob Katter.

Herbert Phillip Thompson and Katter’s Australian Party founder Bob Katter are supportive of Project Immortality.

Mr Thompson said Defence members and veterans who made selfless sacrifices for our nation, faced hurdles while serving as well as when discharging, like mental health challenges.

“This is something I’ve gone through myself,” Mr Thompson said.

“It’s great to see people like Matt and Mick wanting to make a difference in the lives of our most brave men and women by highlighting their victories, shining a light on their challenges, and connecting them with each other and the help that is available.

“I’ll always support anything that supports our Defence members and veterans, and I wish Project Immortality all the best.”

If you would like to be involved, visit: www.projectimmortality.com.au

Originally published as No end in sight for Townsville’s rental market woes