The Gold Coast’s rental market has become increasingly competitive with supply shrinking as investors sell up, a real estate agent has revealed.
Key points:
- Low housing supply and increased interstate migration has fuelled competition for new rental properties
- The Gold Coast’s vacancy rates remain below 1 per cent
- There’s slightly less competition in the northern suburbs
Gold Coast vacancy rates have dropped below 1 per cent, while Metricon Queensland has reported an “extraordinary” 400 per cent increase in interstate inquiries wanting to build new homes.
The squeeze has forced people to lower their expectations as they spend months searching for a home.
Sophie Borowski, 25, has been looking for a rental between Mermaid Beach and Burleigh for more than three months.
“[House inspections] are hectic — they’re 30-plus people at the really good places.”
Ms Borowski said she was considering suburbs further inland like Varsity Lakes and Robina.
In the south
In southern suburbs of the Gold Coast like Currumbin, vacancy rates have dropped to just 0.3 per cent in December 2020, according SQM Research.
Vacancy rates along some parts of the southern Gold Coast have dropped to just 0.3 per cent.(ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)
In such a tight market, Ms Borowski has been competing with renters in her own age group, as well as older families, for properties in the $500 to $750 per week price range.
“It’s a no-hoper. I’m going have to move back home,” she said.
Large housing estates have been built to accommodate population growth in Coomera.(ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)
Ball Realty principal director Tina Ball said people had even offered more money than what was advertised to secure a property.
“You have to look further afield,” Ms Ball said.
“There is more availability in areas like Pimpama and other parts of Upper Coomera and Coomera.”
In the north
The northern suburbs have an average vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent.
“We just can’t get enough rental properties for the demand,” Ms Ball said.
Ms Ball said she has seen a 10-fold increase in the number of rental inquiries.
She also noted many investment properties had sold to owner-occupiers, which reduced the pool of rental properties.
On top of that, she said fewer new properties were being built due to a low supply of greenfield land.
“It’s so expensive to build a house because of the land,” she said.
“So by the time you build a house on that, they’re not investment properties because you wouldn’t get the rent return.”
Ms Borowski’s preference is to stay in the region’s southern suburbs instead of venturing north.
“It’s just too far away,” she said.
“The only reason I would live in Pimpama is if I bought a house … but other than that, no way.”
Article Source: www.abc.net.au
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