Good rentals difficult to find in Warwick

ARE you looking for a four-bedroom brick home to rent?

HARD SEARCH: Finding a good four-bedroom home to rent has become hard, say agents. Picture: File

ARE you looking for a four-bedroom brick home to rent?

Well, good luck, according to our agents. Decent rentals are looking scarce.

Owner of Ray White Warwick, Rachel Lane, said up to 10 or 12 people could come through their doors each day looking for a family home.

"There is definitely a very high demand for rentals in Warwick," she said. "And it's not just the large homes they are after, there is a whole spread of different kinds of people looking for a home.

"Some are looking for places out of town, others want one close to the CBD. But it seems like there is nothing in town available."

Mrs Lane said the demand for rentals was high with a lot of people moving here from different parts of Australia.

"Some are moving for employment," she said.

"Others are moving for a change of lifestyle.

"They are coming from Brisbane and we've had inquiries from people in New South Wales."

Owner of Wade Real Estate Stuart Wade said it was not impossible to find a home in Warwick.

"There are plenty of units available," he said.

"There are lower-quality homes waiting for someone as well, but a lot are after newer brick homes."

Mr Wade also said homes were selling reasonably well with the interest rates low.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland's September quarter median house price report found preliminary numbers of house sales across the state grew 9% over the September quarter.

But the figures, released yesterday, show quarterly sales volumes have fallen in the south-east and associated regions in the past year. The more affordable house prices, however, were likely to attract buyers back to the market in 2014.

REIQ chief Anton Kardash said agents had waited a long time - nearly five years in some areas - to experience "some good times" again.

"Unfortunately the Queensland market has never been consistent across the board. We often experience phases of recovery and growth in some regions, while other areas simultaneously experience patches of more stable activity," he said.

"Of course, our mining districts were performing exceptionally while the majority of the state remained in the doldrums not that long ago."

But Mr Kardash said that unlike Sydney and Melbourne, which appeared to be experiencing levels of relatively unsustainable price growth, the Queensland market was taking a more measured approach.

He said the majority of Queensland's regions experienced mostly unchanged median prices over the September quarter, but over the year there were healthy median increases.

Further evidence of Queensland's market recovery was the reduction in average vendor discounts in most regions as well as rapidly falling days on market.

Over the quarter, there was an increase in sales for under $350,000 across the Southern Downs - potentially to investors - which has temporarily impacted upon some median house prices.

Originally published as Good rentals difficult to find in Warwick