Bundy's rental market sees a lift

THE Real Estate Institute of Queensland has released its latest figures for vacancy rates around the state with the Bundaberg rental market seeing improvements.

POSITIVE PROPERTY: LJ Hooker Bundaberg Principal Jonathon Olsen said there has been improvement in the rental market. Picture: Matthew Daniels ©2015

THE Real Estate Institute of Queensland has released its latest figures for vacancy rates around the state with the Bundaberg rental market seeing improvements.

According to the report, the region's jobs market is yielding improvements to the rental market.

With a further tightening, it is down to two per cent, following a steady downward trend from the March 2017 quarter result of 4.6 per cent.

Bundy's sales market is holding steady, with median sale prices static for the last 12 months.

The report said sales would show signs of improvement if the job market is secure.

Principal for LJ Hooker Bundaberg Jonathon Olsen said he's noticed more people renting to save money for buying a house.

"We are finding there are a lot more good quality applications and multiple applications coming through for rental properties,” he said.

Mr Olsen said the market in Bundaberg was stable.

"When it comes to starting a family, Bundy has the amenities, hospital and the beach at Bargara is only 15 minutes from town,” he said.

"It's a great place to grow a family and while the young ones usually head to the cities, I find they do eventually come back once they are ready to start a family.”

He said the stability of the housing market hasn't really changed.

"We have seen a boom in farming and agricultural land but that hasn't really affected the residential market yet,” he said.

"I've also noticed there are a lot more cash buyers coming through, more buyers have saved better deposits and are more well informed.

"The recent Banking Royal Commission has also made the banks tighten up on lending money, so they're making sure people can afford to buy a home.”

Mr Olsen said a slow down in the capital city market will be good for regional Queensland.

"The last significant growth Bundaberg had was in 2005 to 2007,” he said.

"We found that when the growth in places like Sydney was negative and their market went backwards it had a positive affect on the Queensland regional market.

"When the capital growth slows down or is non-existent they're going to look for return on investment which will be on cash flow and there are a lot of properties in Bundaberg that are neautral or positive cash flow.”