RENTS ON THE RISE: Gladstone market described as 'stable'

RENTS are on the rise as Gladstone's property market continues its return to a new norm.

Gladstone's vacancy rate has remained steady.

RENTS are on the rise as Gladstone's property market continues its return to a new norm.

Revealing its vacancy rate report for the December quarter, Real Estate Institute Queensland said Gladstone's market had demonstrated "stability and steadiness" recently.

REIQ estimated Gladstone's vacancy rate during the

December quarter was 4.2

per cent, an increase from 4.1 per cent in September.

"While it would be desirable to see that vacancy rate fall further, it has improved considerably from 2017, when this market hovered stubbornly at five and six per cent," REIQ said.

But a local real estate agent has suggested the vacancy rate is far lower.

Elders rentals manager and owner Mary Carlyon said the agency's vacancy rate for the region is 1.7 per cent, after they signed 88 new leases in the first two months of the year.

"That's looking like a healthy vacancy rate now ... we're creeping up our rents with that rate," she said.

Ms Carlyon said with fewer rental properties on the market, rents were increasing by 10 to 20 per cent, a sign of the property market reaching a new normal.

"I think the community has forgotten the pain of the drop in the economy - we're now getting a new normal," she said.

She said with more homes gaining tenants since the start of the year, the vacancy rate was continuing to drop.

Ms Carlyon explained the REIQ's 0.1 per cent increase to its estimated rate for Gladstone reflected the "seasonal change" which usually took place in the quiet December.

News of "stability" within Gladstone's property market follows the release of Ray White's Between the Lines Report earlier this month.

It found there was a much-needed decrease to the development of vacant land during the past five years.

"This slow addition of stock has been welcomed by the local market with the need to absorb these existing high stock levels," Ray White's head of research Vanessa Rader said.

Townsville and the Cassowary Coast were the two regions with higher vacancy rates than Gladstone according to the REIQ report.

It said Townvsille's vacancy rate moved from 3.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent due to the recent devastating floods.

"With an unknown proportion of the rental market impacted by the floods, and the number of dispatched people needing immediate short-term accommodation also unknown, it's difficult to measure the impact of this event on the market," it said.

Originally published as RENTS ON THE RISE: Gladstone market described as 'stable'