Record vacancy rates in this wide swathe of Brisbane means this is where rents could soon fall

FEAR not if you don’t have a rung on the property ladder yet, it’s a great time to be a tenant. Vacancy rates are at a record high, so rents are likely to fall – as long as you’re in one of these suburbs. FULL LIST

The rent for 96 Ekibin Road Annerley - 5.5km from the CBD - has been "rapidly reduced" to $490 per week. The three bedroom house is available to rent now.

IT’S a great time to be a tenant with vacancy rates hitting a record high in Brisbane’s middle ring. It’s the first sign that suburbia is losing the battle to keep tenants as owners of rampaging levels of new inner-city apartments up the ante.

Experts believe it could see rents fall and see tenants have the upper hand across a 15km wide band of suburbs stretching around the Queensland capital including the likes of Hamilton to Geebung to Annerley (see list at end of story). The higher the vacancy level, the more likely landlords will be forced to make concessions to land a tenant.

Brisbane’s middle ring now has the worst vacancy rate for rental properties in South East Queensland - which is great if you’re a renter, but not if you’re an investor, according to September Quarter figures released by REIQ.

The middle ring, which consists of homes located from 5km to 20km from the CBD in all directions, saw its vacancy rate surge from 2.3 per cent to a whopping 4.5 per cent in just three months. That puts it in the same rental vacancy strife as regional centres such as Rockhampton and Bundaberg, with even Gympie (3.7 per cent) and the Lockyer Valley (3.1 per cent) showing better vacancy rates.

This two bedroom, two bathroom, one car space apartment at 303/8 Hunt Street Hamilton has not just had its rent dropped to $490 per week, but its owners are also offering one week rent free.

The inner city - where record levels of apartments were being built - only saw a slight rise in its vacancy rate which went from 3.4 per cent in the June quarter to 3.7 per cent in the three months to September.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the middle ring was being hit by a triple whammy.

“Inner-city property managers and landlords are particularly sensitive to the oversupply question at the moment and rents have become extremely competitive, luring tenants from the middle ring into the inner ring,” she said.

“Also, a significant level of development has come online in the middle ring and some agents have reported that without being able sell, many of those properties have been put into the rental pool.

“Another contributing factor is that interest rates are very low and with the State Government’s recent boost to the first-home buyer grant from $15,000 to $20,000, that is influencing people’s decision to own rather than rent.”

This three bedroom home at 24 Widdin Street Geebung which is available now has had its rent reduced to $380 per week.

The vacancy rate across Greater Brisbane was in what REIQ considered “the healthy range” at 3.3 per cent, while the Brisbane City Council region was 4.1 per cent.

Brisbane’s middle-ring was one of three Queensland markets that saw rental vacancies jump 2.2 percentage points in three months, with the other two being the resource downturn impacted Southern Downs and the Cassowary Coast.

Tenants in Caloundra and Noosa would be finding renegotiating new leases tough, with the vacancy rates at both places now a tight 1.2 per cent, while the weakest market in the state was Burdekin Shire where almost one in 10 homes (9.6 per cent) up for rent were vacant.

Livingstone in Yeppoon saw a sudden drop in its vacancy rate - which fell 4 percentage points to 8.3 per cent, the largest drop in Queensland.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella with the Brisbane skyline behind her. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

VACANCY RATES ACROSS QUEENSLAND:

Very low vacancies:

Gold Coast City 1.7 per cent

Sunshine Coast 1.6 per cent

Caloundra Coast 1.2 per cent

Maroochy Coast 1.6 per cent

Hinterland 1.9 per cent

Noosa 1.2 per cent

Pine Rivers 1.7 per cent

Bay Islands 1.5 per cent

Brisbane Outer Ring (20km+) 2.2 per cent

Ipswich 2.1 per cent

Logan 2 per cent

Moreton Bay 2.2 per cent

Caboolture 2.5 per cent

Redcliffe 2.4 per cent

Redland City 2.2 per cent

Mainland 2.4 per cent

Fraser Coast 2.9 per cent

Maryborough 2.4 per cent

Cairns 2.5 per cent

Toowoomba 2.3 per cent

Even Stevens between renters and landlords:

Inner Ring (0-5km) 3.7 per cent

Hervey Bay 3.1 per cent

Gympie 3.7 per cent

Lockyer Valley 3.1 per cent

South Burnett 3.1 per cent

High vacancies:

Middle Ring (5-20km) 4.5 per cent

Brisbane City 4.1 per cent

Bundaberg 4.5 per cent

Rockhampton 4.5 per cent

Southern Downs 5.3 per cent

Whitsunday 5.8 per cent

Very high vacancies:

Gladstone 8.9 per cent

Mackay 6.9 per cent

Townsville 7.1 per cent (record)

Burdekin 9.6 per cent

Cassowary Coast 7.7 per cent

Livingstone 8.3 per cent

(Source: REIQ)

Originally published as Record vacancy rates in this wide swathe of Brisbane means this is where rents could soon fall