Sunshine Coast suburbs among Australia’s best for investors, worst for tenants

Two suburbs on the Sunshine Coast have been identified as an investor’s dream as rental properties are harder to come by in those regions than elsewhere in Australia. See the top 20 list.

Pelican Waters and Maleny are among 20 Australian suburbs where it’s almost impossible to find a rental, according to new data.

The report, commissioned by online lender Well Home Loans, shows investors are in a strong position while tenants are working hard to find properties in those regions.

“If you’re an investor in a suburb that contains only three vacant rental properties, tenants have to compete hard for your property, which gives you the chance to push up rents,” company chief executive Scott Spencer said.

“Conversely, if you’re a tenant, life is really tough, because it’s difficult to find accommodation and you know rents are climbing fast.”

The report ranked Casuarina in NSW at the top, followed by Henley Beach South in SA, Pelican Waters and Maleny on the Sunshine Coast and Bilinga in Coolangatta, Queensland.

The report also showed Pelican Waters had only two rentals out of 524 available for more than 21 days while weekly rents for houses increased by $170 over the past 12 months.

The vacancy rate in Pelican Waters was 0.73 per cent.

Maleny had just one property out of 612 rentals available for more than 21 days while weekly rents for houses increased by $150 and the vacancy rate sat at 0.54 per cent.

Australia's top 20 suburbs for investors

1: Casuarina, NSW
2: Henley Beach South, SA
3: Pelican Waters, QLD
4: Maleny, QLD
5: Bilinga, QLD 
6: Swansea, NSW
7: Rye, VIC
8: North Beach, WA
9: Highland Park, QLD 
10: Safety Beach, VIC
11: Reedy Creek, QLD 
12: Currumbin Waters, QLD 
13: Bonython, ACT
14: Mardi, NSW
15: Bogangar, NSW
16: Tweed Heads South, NSW
17: Deloraine, TAS
18: Tweed Heads West, NSW
19: Pottsville, NSW
20: McCrae, VIC

A tight rental market has been blamed for businesses struggling to recruit staff.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said in December he’d heard of businesses having to transport staff in from further afield – including from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast – because of the housing shortage.

“There’s no rental properties for staff in some locations,” he said.

“Sunshine Coast is one place where it’s particularly significant but also the outback areas.”

Mr Spencer said investors were ruling the market in those suburbs.

“To make matters worse, all the suburbs in this report are in areas with very low vacancy rates, so even if tenants were prepared to move one or two suburbs along, they’d still find it hard to secure accommodation. That gives investors considerable market power,” he said.

The report, which sourced data from suburbtrends.com and the census, excluded suburbs:

*with fewer than 500 rentals;

*where more than three rentals were on the market for more than 20 days;

*with a vacancy rate above 1 per cent

*if fewer than 5 per cent of dwellings were rentals; and

*if weekly rents had grown less than 5 per cent over the past year.

The data comes after the new Housing Needs Assessment report found the rise of short-term accommodation in Noosa increased house prices, led to a decline in homes available for permanent rentals and caused conflict between residents and visitors.

It said the creep of short-term accommodation into residential areas created amenity, health and wellbeing impacts.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast suburbs among Australia’s best for investors, worst for tenants