Brisbane rentals tipped to soar as floods squeeze already tight market

Desperate house hunters are engaging in unprecedented bidding wars to secure homes as Brisbane’s rental crisis spirals out of control.

Rental prices are tipped to soar in Brisbane as desperate house hunters offer up to 20 per cent above advertised prices as the market is squeezed further following the devastating floods.

Vacancy rates were already at historic lows in regions across Southeast Queensland but the major disaster reduced available stock and forced thousands into the large pool vying for a lease.

Real estate experts warn prices will further balloon as insurance money flows into the pockets of flood victims, with one family escaping their mud-wrecked home forking out $1650 to secure an Annerley property advertised for $1350, a property manager told The Courier-Mail.

House hunters Carl Bebendorf and Emily-Jade Green have already applied for more than 20 rental properties and are yet to find a home.

“We’ve already applied for five places in the past week, and three of them got leased in less than 24 hours,” Mr Bebendorf said.

“We feel the need to put in higher offers, which I didn’t think was really a thing you were able to do.

“But you sort of feel the pressure to offer higher amounts because we know there are people applying for places putting in higher offers, not even seeing the places either, so you do feel the pressure.”

Carl Bebendorf and Emily-Jade Green said house hunters feel the need place higher bids for rentals. Picture: Liam Kidston

Bell Estate Agents’ Lucy Thomson, who manages properties across the city, said there had been a “massive influx” of families looking for short term rentals this month.

“And most of the time they’re willing to pay a significant amount above the asking price due to insurance being paid out, which is making competition for everyone else quite difficult,” she said.

The extraordinary and immediate inflation of prices doesn’t surprise CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless, who said it was a “symptom of how tight the market is and how strong demand is”.

“The net result is we will probably see rents rising or under renewed upward pressure, because rents are already rising at quite a strong rate,” he said.

Brisbane rentals have soared by about 2.5 per cent each quarter since the beginning of 2021, according to CoreLogic data, and Mr Lawless warned this will continue as Queenslanders are forced into the outer suburbs.

“Within the next six to 12 months, we should expect there’s going to be some fairly substantial rental pressures across Brisbane and it probably means some renters are simply going to have to be looking for rental accommodation well outside of where they prefer to be renting,” he said.

Kaitlin Weekes and Tarrick Lunck say they have given up on the concept of living in central Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

Couple Tarrick Lunck and Kaitlin Weekes are among those who have had to give up on their dreams of living in the inner-city.

“At first we were looking closer to the city but because of how difficult it’s been, we’ve been covering most suburbs around the Southside,” Mr Lunck said.

“We started looking at a few [properties] a week, and that was a month ago, so we’re probably up to about 15 to 20 open houses now.”

Ms Thomson said competition was already soaring in Brisbane’s outskirts, including Logan suburbs Browns Plains and Park Ridge, as well as northern regions such as Bray Park, Lawnton and Kallangur.

And this push into the outer suburbs could have more dire consequences, a housing advocacy warns.

“We’re heading towards more homelessness,” Kate Colvin from affordable housing group Everybody’s Home said.

“Not just for people who are on the very lowest income … people on low and middle income wages will also not be able to secure a property and might end up having to stay with family or put up a tent in a friend’s backyard.”