QLD: Tenants begging sellers to rent instead as housing crisis worsens

Queensland’s crippling rental crisis has left vacancy rates below 1 per cent in a staggering 40 local government areas, with availability in one city shrinking to just 0.1 per cent, or effectively zero. SEE HOW BAD THINGS ARE IN YOUR REGION

Queensland’s crippling rental crisis is expected to worsen, with vacancy rates already at record lows and rents soaring.

And tenants are getting desperate.

Vacancy rates across loved-to-death Queensland are being squeezed as the state confronts a perfect storm of low stock and record high interstate migration, with the rental pool in one region – Maryborough – shrinking to just 0.1 per cent, or effectively zero.

MORE NEWS: New coalition calls for $20bn to address social housing shortfall

Queensland rents soar as homes become harder to find

Looking for a rental? Good luck

Of the 50 local government areas analysed, only 10 had a vacancy rate north of one per cent, according to the latest REIQ Residential Vacancy Report for the December quarter.

And of those, only one – Redland – is considered in the “healthy” range of 2.6 to 3.5 per cent, with a vacancy rate of 2.7 per cent.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said she couldn’t recall a time where tight vacancy rates were so consistently and drastically low across Queensland.

“A rental market as extraordinarily tight as this presents challenges to the local economy and to the community,” Ms Mercorella said.

“No one wants to see people struggling to find a place to live, forced into unsuitable housing or living unsustainably outside of their means.”

Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella.

Queensland’s coastal tourism centres – Sunshine Coast (0.5%), Caloundra Coast (0.6%), Gold Coast (0.6%), Fraser Coast (0.6%), and Noosa (0.8%) – are still in high demand, and its not much better up north, with vacancy rates remaining tight across Rockhampton (0.4%), Toowoomba (0.4%), Mackay (0.7%), Cairns (0.7%) and Townsville (0.7%).

In Hervey Bay, vacancies were sitting at one per cent in the December quarter, while in Bundaberg (0.4%) and Gympie (0.3%), the pressure shows no signs of easing.

Ms Mercorella said 2022 would likely bring even more competition and demand, adding that more needed to be done to relieve the pressure.

“Demand for rental properties in Queensland will continue to rise along with the rising population and that growing population needs a roof over its head,” Ms Mercorella said.

“With international borders opening, over time we’ll see returning numbers of international students, migrants, and holiday-makers, and this too will add to the strain on rental accommodation.”

In August last year, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hit pause on interstate arrivals, saying “Queensland is being loved to death”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

It comes as CoreLogic revealed that rents across Australia’s capital cities and regional areas soared the fastest since 2007 during the December quarter, for both houses and units.

“For more than 18 months we’ve seen demand for detached housing continue unabated as more renters work from home … which drives demand for more spacious living conditions,” CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said.

“In addition to this trend, investors, while still active in the market, have been dwarfed by an over representation of owner occupiers entering the market, upgrading or buying holiday homes that aren’t being added to the rental pool.

“This is also being played out in the rapid growth in regional rental markets.”

RELIEVED border checkpoint cops have posed for happy snaps with the last car that crossed the state line after it finally fully reopened on January 15. Picture Queensland Police

Brisbane was the strongest performing capital city rental market over the quarter, with rents rising 2.3 per cent, followed by Canberra and Hobart, both rising 2.1 per cent.

Regional rents continued to outpace capital city rents over the fourth quarter with regional dwellings rising 2.5 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent in the cities, the Core Logic report said.

Ray White Maryborough principal Guy Meredith said finding a property in his region was now akin to “winning the lottery”.

“Renters are offering to pay over and above the list price, which we can’t accept, to paying six months in advance,” he said.

“People are desperate and frustrated, which is understandable, and its often a loveless job for our property managers who often get asked why someone wasn’t successful, if there was something wrong with their application.

“Often there is nothing wrong, there is just extreme demand.”

Demand for rentals in Maryborough is high Photo: Stuart Fast

Mr Meredith said the rental crisis was a national issue, but was being acutely felt in Queensland’s lifestyle locations as people migrated from southern states.

“We were seen as the promised land, with our sunshine, fresh air, lifestyle and affordability,” he said. “We have just gone boom.”

On the Gold Coast, Harcourts Coastal director of property management Kym Atherton said the pressure was on, especially for families.

“We had a family whose house burned down and they were trying to find a rental around the same amount they were paying, but we just couldn’t help them,” Ms Atherton said.

“A larger percentage of people are finding themselves struggling to get into a rental, but I think the big shock for a lot of people is the fact that what they used to be able to get now costs so much more.”

Aerial shot of Townsville, where vacancy rates are 0.7 per cent

Up north, M Property Townsville agent Tracey Stack said the rental market was in crisis.

“I now have renters calling me up to try and get me to convince sellers to rent to them instead of selling,” she said.

“I also have buyers who have missed out on a property calling up and pleading with me to get the new owner to rent to them.

“I get about 3-4 calls a week. That’s never happened before.”

Ms Stack said the biggest issue was that many investment properties, which ultimately made up the rental pool, were being snapped up by owner-occupiers.