Tenants house hop to get cheaper rent
Budget conscious tenants house hopping for cheaper rent are driving a surge in activity in the Gold Coast rental market. See the suburbs where rents have dropped the most
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BUDGET conscious tenants house hopping for cheaper rent are driving a surge in activity in the Gold Coast rental market.
Real Estate Industry of Queensland (REIQ) Gold Coast zone chair Andrew Henderson said tenants looking for a better deal were on the move.
“There’s been a lot of ebbs and flows around vacancy in the rental market this year,
but in the last two and half weeks we’ve seen quite a bit of activity from tenants and
it’s mainly price driven,” Mr Henderson said.
“We’re seeing some strong demand from people looking for something that’s
more affordable than their current home. A lot of tenants don’t want to ask for rent
reductions, but they’ll move somewhere else to save a few dollars.”
The comments come off the back of the latest REIQ data, which shows the biggest savings across all rental sectors were to be found in Benowa, Bundall, Main Beach, Sorrento, Surfers Paradise.
Comparing rental prices in those suburbs to the previous year, the median weekly rent for a three-bedroom house dropped by $60; 2 bedroom units rents fell by $30; while a saving of $40 was made three bedroom townhouses.
The report also showed a $75 dollar drop in the weekly rent for three-bedroom townhouses in Elanora and Palm Beach while $35 has been shaved off the cost of renting a house on Mount Tamborine.
And while Gold Coast rents increased slightly overall in the 12 months to June, vacancy rates have remained steady.
According to the report, the last four quarters of vacancy rates have come in at 3.0 per cent with the exception of December 2019 which was 1.8 per cent.
Previous to this 12-month period, quarterly vacancy rates were running at between 1.1 and 2.7 per cent for approximately eight years.
The annual rent for a three-bedroom house to June 2020 was $500 across 898 new
bonds – this was an increase of $5 per week on the 2019 measure.
The same comparisons for two-bedroom units saw a 2020 median of $430 per week
across 2751 new bonds as opposed $440 per week in 2019.
“The price of housing and three-bedroom apartments has remained relatively
unchanged,” Mr Henderson said.
“There has been some recovery in two-bedroom apartment market and
unfurnished units are generally getting a higher rent per week than the furnished.”
WHERE RENTS HAVE DROPPED
(Suburb / Median weekly rent June 2019 / June 2020)
3 bed houses
Benowa / Bundall / Main Beach / Sorrento / Surfers Paradise: $660 / $600
Broadbeach / Mermaid Beach / Nobby Beach / Rialto: $650 / $623
Currumbin / Currumbin Valley: $575 / $550
Mt Tamborine: $470 / $445
2 bed units
Arundel, Ashmore, Ernest, Parkwood: $400 / $370
Benowa, Bundall, Main Beach, Sorrento, Surfers Paradise: $480 / $450
Biggera Waters, Coombabah, Hollywell, Paradise Point, Runaway Bay: $430 / $410
3 bed townhouses
Elanora, Palm Beach: $570 / $495
Currumbin, Currumbin Valley: $530 / $488
Benowa, Bundall, Main Beach, Sorrento, Surfers Paradise, Merrimac, Robina: $550 / $510
*Source: REIQ Queensland Market Monitor, April-June 2020
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