Revealed: Ipswich’s most affordable suburbs to rent in
While a growing population, a shallow housing stock pool, and record-low vacancy rates have pushed Ipswich’s rental housing crisis to a “critical” point, a number of areas are consistently cheaper to live in than others. FIND OUT WHERE
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Rents for units, houses, and townhouses across Ipswich are on the rise, as the city’s population continues to boom and vacancy rates hit an all-time low.
New data compiled by the Residential Tenancies Authority indicated median rent paid for a two-bedroom unit at Ipswich increased from $270 per week in December 2020 to $290 per week in December last year, while median rent paid for a three-bedroom unit increased from $310 per week to $320 per week in the same time.
Median rent paid for houses also increased significantly between December 2020 and December last year: from $287.50 to $307.50 per week for two-bedroom homes, from $330 to $365 per week for three-bedroom homes, and from $390 to $430 per week for four-bedroom homes.
People are also now paying $300 per week for a two-bedroom townhouse and $360 per week for a three-bedroom townhouse, compared with $280 per week and $330 per week in December 2020 respectively.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland Zone Chair for Ipswich Andrew Kenman said vacancy rates were “extremely low” at just 0.9 per cent — down from 2.5 per cent pre-pandemic.
“There’s a number of forces which are acting at the moment and a lot of them are Covid-related,” Mr Kenman said.
“Tenants who would normally leave the area to migrate to other areas of Australia are not doing that now, so our current tenants are extending longer than they would normally.
“And we’ve got a high migration rate of about three per cent coming into Ipswich. That is extremely high for us.”
He said the “classic forces” of tenants not wanting to leave Ipswich, new tenants entering the local market, and a shortage of available housing stock had culminated in significant rent increases.
“Our average rents for our own offices have gone from $320 to $350 per week,” he said.
“Some of our properties have gone up by $50 per week.”
Mr Kenman said the rental housing situation was now “critical”.
“Something needs to give,” he said.
“We need to get an increased amount of properties on the market that we can share between owner-occupiers and investors.”
According to recent RTA data, two Ipswich postcode areas — 4304 and 4340 — are consistently cheaper than others for renters to live in.
The Queensland Times has used the authority’s analysis of new rental bonds lodged in the October to December 2021 quarter to determine which Ipswich areas are the cheapest to rent different types of homes in.
FLATS AND UNITS
During the December quarter of last year, suburbs within postcode 4340 were the cheapest across Ipswich to rent one-bedroom and three-bedroom units in.
Renting a one-bedroom unit in Ashwell, Calvert, Ebenezer, Lanefield, Jeebropilly, Lower Mount Walker, Mount Forbes, Mount Mort, Mount Walker West, Rosewood, The Bluff, Tallegalla, and Woolshed cost people a median of $232.50 per week, while renting a three-bedroom unit cost a median of $310 per week.
Meanwhile, renting a two-bedroom unit was cheapest in 4304 suburbs — Blackstone, Booval, Bundamba, Ebbw Vale, North Booval, and Silkstone — and renting a four-bedroom unit was cheapest in 4305 suburbs.
Suburbs within postcode 4305 include Basin Pocket, Brassall, Bremer, Churchill, Coalfalls, East Ipswich, Eastern Heights, Flinders View, Ipswich CBD, Leichhardt, Limestone Ridges, Moores Pocket, Newtown, North Ipswich, North Tivoli, One Mile, Raceview, Sadliers Crossing, Tivoli, West Ipswich, Woodend, Wulkuraka, and Yamanto.
RTA data revealed renting a two-bedroom unit in a 4304 suburb cost a median of $267.50 per week in the final quarter of last year, while renting a four-bedroom unit in a 4305 suburb cost a median of $315 per week.
HOUSES
When it came to renting houses in Ipswich, 4304 suburbs were also the cheapest for those after just one or two bedrooms.
Median rent paid for a one-bedroom house in such suburbs was $240 per week in the final quarter of last year, while median rent paid for a two-bedroom house was $280 per week.
It was cheapest to rent a three-bedroom house in a 4340 or a 4303 suburb, with the median rent in both areas $320 per week.
The three suburbs within postcode 4303 are Dinmore, New Chum, and Riverview.
Also in the December quarter of last year, renting a four-bedroom house cost the least in a 4305 suburb at just $392.50 per week — compared with up to $470 per week in 4300 suburbs such as Brookwater and Augustine Heights.
TOWNHOUSES
The RTA data for the December quarter indicated suburbs within postcode 4301 (Collingwood Park, Redbank Plains, and Redbank) were the cheapest to rent two-bedroom and four-bedroom townhouses in.
The median rent paid by people in these suburbs was $285 per week for a two-bedroom townhouse and $385 per week for a four-bedroom townhouse.
Meanwhile, renters were paying the least for three-bedroom townhouses in 4303 suburbs Dinmore, New Chum, and Riverview.
There was no median rent price data available for one-bedroom townhouses in the December quarter of last year.
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