Yeppoon, Wandal, Allenstown make list of hardest places to rent in Queensland

As Queensland continues to become hot property for southerners, new data has revealed three Central Queensland suburbs are on the list of the hardest places to find a rental in the state. HERE’S WHERE THEY ARE.

Three of Rockhampton's suburbs have made the list of Queensland's 20 suburbs where it's hardest to rent.

Regional Queensland continues to be hot property as thousands of southerners migrate north to the Sunshine state, tightening the rental market.

As rental properties continue to become few and far between, the prices are also rising.

This week Well Home Loans released a report of the top 20 suburbs around Queensland where it’s hardest to find a rental and three local suburbs have made the list.

According to the report, Yeppoon, Wandal and Allenstown have all fallen into the top 20 places around the state where it is hardest to get a rental property.

Coming in at number 10 on the list after popular southern suburbs such as Pelican Waters and Maleny was Yeppoon, which has recorded an average weekly rent rise of $90 in the past 12 months, with just one property currently available to lease.

Yeppoon was ranked at number 10 in the list of the 20 Queensland suburbs where it’s hardest to rent.

According to data from the report, there are 2177 rental houses and units in the coastal town, with the vacancy rate being listed as 0.18 per cent.

Properties also only stay on the market for an average of 12 days.

Wandal, which came in at number 12 on the list, had rent prices rise by about $70 in the past 12 months and like it’s coastal neighbour, has just one property available for rent.

The suburb has 666 houses and properties listed as rentals with houses and units spending an average of 14 days on the market.

One of South Rockhampton’s most popular suburbs, Allenstown, came in at number 15 with rents rising by $60 with just two properties available for rent.

With a vacancy rate of 0.78 per cent, there is a total of 1059 rental houses and units listed in Allenstown.

When it comes to buying in the area, properties in Allenstown stay on the market for an average of 15 days.

The report also ranked the three suburbs with a SEIFA disadvantage decile, with a higher score meaning less disadvantaged residents.

The SEIFA disadvantage deciles come from the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage, an index that captures the economic and social conditions of people within an area.

A score of one means the area is in the bottom decile meaning it’s more disadvantaged than 90 per cent of areas within its state, while a score of 10 means the area is in the top decile, meaning it’s less disadvantaged than 90 per cent of areas within its state.

An area might rank in a low decile if it contained many households with low incomes, no qualifications or low-skill occupations.

An area is in a high decile if it contains few households with low incomes, no qualifications or low-skill occupations.

Yeppoon and Allenstown each received a rank of two, while Wandal received a rank of three.

Well Home Loans CEO Scott Spencer said there were two different stories playing out in these 20 suburbs, with investors in a strong position and tenants in a weak position.

“If you’re an investor in a suburb that contains only three vacant rental properties, tenants have to compete hard for your property, which gives you the chance to push up rents,” he said.

Well Homes CEO Scott Spencer.

“Conversely, if you’re a tenant, life is really tough, because it’s difficult to find accommodation and you know rents are climbing fast.

“To make matters worse, all the suburbs in this report are in areas with very low vacancy rates, so even if tenants were prepared to move one or two suburbs along, they’d still find it hard to secure accommodation. That gives investors considerable market power.”

Mr Spencer said tenants in the listed suburbs might want to consider buying, especially if rents had increased to a point where they were now more expensive than mortgage repayments.

However, he noted that some of these suburbs had high levels of disadvantage, as measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which would make it hard for local residents to get onto the property ladder.

“Tin Can Bay, for example, is located in an area in the bottom decile, which means it is more disadvantaged than 90 per cent of areas within the state. That makes it hard for tenants to afford rising rents and to save a deposit,” he said.

“Conversely, Maudsland is located in an area in the top decile, which means it is less disadvantaged than 90 per cent of areas within the state. So local tenants would find it easier to cope with the big jump in local rents and to get onto the property ladder.”