Rental crisis: Queensland hits new record low vacancy rate

Queensland’s rental crisis has deteriorated with only 5500 homes estimated to be available after the vacancy rate plunged to a new record low, accelerating fears of worse to come.

New tenants across the state are competing for just 5500 homes as Queensland’s rental availability plummeted to a record low.

And as conditions continue to deteriorate experts warn of dire availability during the traditional rental peak time in January when new tenants come into the market.

The latest PropTrack data for October shows the rental crisis is now at chronic levels, after Brisbane and Queensland saw their first ever synchronised vacancy rate – a state record low of 0.87 per cent.

MORE: Shock income you need to earn to buy a house in Brisbane

61% spike: Mortgages soar, rentals dry up as more hit the streets

Prize homeowner’s incredible win ends shock run of bad luck

Queensland numbers are even more dire than the national level where the vacancy rate was also at a record low 1.02 per cent.

Latest Census data counted just over 632,400 private rentals across Queensland in 2021. PropTrack’s most recent vacancy rate data means the best estimate of available rentals is 5500, with real estate agents already widely reporting extremely tight levels of stock.

The Queensland numbers are even more dire than the national level where the vacancy rate was also at a record low, coming in at 1.02 per cent, with Sydney (1.11pc) and Melbourne (1.09pc) also seeing their tightest levels ever.

There are growing fears for regional Queensland which was already heavily impacted by interstate migration during the pandemics, with its vacancies tightening at double the pace of Brisbane in October – seeing a -0.08pc contraction compared to Brisbane’s -0.04pc.

PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty fears there’s worse to come.

PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said it was a major concern that Queensland conditions were deteriorating at such a crucial time, given rental peak demand was not far off in January.

“We’ve never seen the vacancy rate as low as it is right now in Queensland and it’s actually been trending downwards for five years now,” she said.

“If you’re a renter in Queensland, you’re facing really tough conditions pretty much everywhere across the state.”

Ray White New Farm partner Haesley Cush, who also runs the rental side of the business through Living Here Cush Partners, said “if the vacancy rate is 0.87pc now, come January, it’s going to get even worse”.

“It is a well known industry fact that January is when the new tenants come into the market at the start of the new school year so landlords set a lot of their leases to expire in January. Compounding that is we’ve got the highest interstate migration I’ve ever seen, and many landlords have been selling up to first home buyers in the last eight months, and you’ve got a shrinking pool of properties and an increasing number of tenants.”

Real estate agent Haesley Cush says if you’re in a good rental, your best bet it to renew your lease rather than risk the crowds in January.

Mr Cush said anyone thinking of trying to change rentals in this climate should think again and renew their current lease if possible.

“Landlords still would rather deal with a good tenant than deal with a new person. I’m not seeing people get evicted for higher rent. The biggest thing is if you’re a tenant and you’re thinking of trying your luck in January, don’t. Just renew your lease.”

More than half the regions assessed in Queensland were seeing vacancies even lower than the statewide figure, with the worst hit area being Moreton Bay South on 0.55 per cent.

Sunshine Coast was also extremely tight (0.59pc), as was Moreton Bay North (0.63pc), Wide Bay (0.63pc), Brisbane North (0.70pc), Toowoomba (0.75pc), Cairns (0.80pc), Gold Coast (0.81pc), Darling Downs-Maranoa (0.82pc) and Brisbane South (0.83pc).

Massive rental demand continues to outpace availability.

SEE THE LATEST PROPTRACK HOME PRICE INDEX

The easiest place to find a rental was now Queensland Outback where the vacancy rate was 2.8pc, followed by Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday (1.62pc) and Ipswich (1.07pc) – all of which were still at chronic levels by historical standards.

The situation was likely to worsen, Ms Flaherty warned, given “a lot of the issues that caused vacancy to fall to record lows in Queensland are hitting the rest of the country as well” and the peak period for renters – January – was not far away.

“It’s actually incredibly concerning that we’ve seen the vacancy rate fall to a new record low towards the end of the year because we know that January, February is the one of the most popular times for people to look for somewhere to rent so it’s going to get tougher for renters.”

Vacancy rates for each of Qld’s SA4 regions:

SA4 Region | Vacancy rate Oct 23

Moreton Bay South 0.55%

Sunshine Coast 0.59%

Moreton Bay North 0.63%

Wide Bay 0.63%

Brisbane North 0.70%

Toowoomba 0.75%

Cairns 0.80%

Gold Coast 0.81%

Darling Downs-Maranoa 0.82%

Brisbane South 0.83%

Brisbane East 0.90%

Brisbane Inner City 0.93%

Logan – Beaudesert 0.98%

Townsville 1.01%

Brisbane West 1.03%

Central Queensland 1.03%

Ipswich 1.07%

Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday 1.62%

Queensland Outback 2.80%

(Source: PropTrack)

FOLLOW SOPHIE FOSTER ON TWITTER