Dalby rentals being snapped up as housing market begins to shrink

Exclusive property data has revealed Western Downs residents were under immense pressure to find homes, with rentals reportedly only two weeks on the market.

DIFFICULT MARKET: Property data has revealed regional Queenslanders were under immense pressure to find homes, with rentals only lasting seven days on the market. Picture: Contributed

Property data has revealed Western Downs residents were under immense pressure to find homes, with rentals only lasting seven days on the market.

Property analyst firm CoreLogic revealed in their quarterly report a huge decrease in Queensland’s regional rental markets, with listings being halved in the last 12 months.

Across country Queensland, rental properties were being snapped up within two weeks in areas such as Toowoomba and Wide Bay.

Their amount of rental listings in April of 2021 and 2020 were compared, with Toowoomba’s depleting from 1026 to 503.

Rental asking prices have dramatically increased as well, rising 8.3 per cent to $350 a week in the Darling Downs.

One Property Centre’s principal agent Peter Forbes said rental properties were going “very quickly” in Dalby, with the real estate agency only having one property available out of the 270 they manage.

One Property Centre principal Peter Forbes.

“They’re all going very quickly at the moment, as we’d generally get a bunch of applications on every property we list,” Mr Forbes said.

“We usually start advertising before the outgoing tenants move out, and it’d be pretty rare if we didn’t have someone in there the following week after vacating.”

Mr Forbes believed this phenomena is rampant across Queensland at the moment, and could be attributed to the rise in the sales market.

“Landlords are looking to sell their houses now rather than rent them out, so agencies across Dalby are losing rental properties to home buyers,” he said.

“We’re not seeing a lot of investment buyers, just general home buyers which has impacted the market greatly.”

Most average three bedroom homes would roughly be rented out for $280 a week according to Mr Forbes, which is an increase from $250 in previous years.

Fitzsimmons Real Estate’s principal agent Andrew Fitzsimmons agreed, and said they were receiving more inquiries in shorter amounts of time.

“The demand has definitely increased with it being busier compared to last year,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.

“It’s definitely tighter, however rental prices will still vary from anywhere between $250 —$270 a week, depending on features.”

Metropolitan areas were under even more increased pressures, with rental homes on the Gold Coast only being available for two weeks on average.

Originally published as Dalby rentals being snapped up as housing market begins to shrink