Available rentals in Hobart on the rise amid coronavirus pandemic

With tourism at a standstill, one of Tasmania's tightest rental markets has seen an influx of properties - many from the short-stay accommodation sector.

Hobart is experiencing a surge in the number of rental properties on the market.

HOBART is experiencing a surge of rental properties, reversing a recent trend of a very tight rental market.

But it could be short lived, with fears that properties will once again be lost to the booming short-term rental industry once the state’s borders reopen.

Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Mandy Welling said with uncertainty around restrictions and travel into the future, many short-stay rental owners were likely to keep their properties on the rental market as a more reliable source of income.

But if these properties did begin to leave the market again, Hobart could delve back into a housing crisis.

Ms Welling said at the moment vacancy rates were 2.1 per cent in Hobart, 2.2 per cent in Launceston, and 3.1 per cent in Devonport.

She said about 3 per cent of rental properties across the state were available at the moment: “What we’ll see with that influx from Airbnb is there’ll be many more available. It could lift to 4 or 5 per cent,” she said.

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Airbnb Australia country manager Susan Wheeldon said the virus had caused significant hardship for ordinary people who relied on sharing their homes for extra income.

“Understandably, some have to make really difficult choices based on their personal circumstances,” she said.

Ms Wheeldon said Airbnb had not seen a material drop in the overall number of listings on the platform. In October, Airbnb had 1300 listings in the City of Hobart area, but a search for the Hobart region on the site now brings up only 300 listings.

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Ms Welling said she hoped that when restrictions began easing landlords would not begin evicting their tenants to make the switch back to short-stay rentals or hike up prices.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they [the state government] extend that emergency period,” she said. “We’ve had minimal information come through from agents telling us people aren’t paying rent. We’re really lucky we’ve not been impacted by that at all.”

She said the last thing anyone in the industry wanted to see was tenants going homeless.

“It’s just important to reiterate what the government have been saying,” she said. “If you can pay rent, pay it.”

CoreLogic’s March quarterly review said the impact of the pandemic could lead to higher vacancies as more group households were formed due to loss of income, or as tenants attempted to negotiate lowered rent.

“This trend may be expected across most markets, but may disproportionately affect the Hobart market, where rents were already unaffordable for many, and the workforce has a proportionately high amount employed in the affected industries of tourism and the arts,” the report said.

“The month of March saw a decline in Hobart rents of -0.4 per cent, with a median estimated rental value of $472 per week.”