One Queensland area has recently seen the housing vacancy rate dip below one per cent, forcing some renters into buying.
Broad Property Research and Advisory’s April 2013 report has found that the Whitsunday region has a worsening housing shortage.
Author of the report, Paul Broad, said that data from the Residential Tenancies Authority found the median weekly rent for four-bedroom houses in Airlie Beach and Cannonvale has increased by 20 per cent to $550 per week over the past year.
Mr Broad said that there would be “an average annual population increase of 1,000 new permanent residents each year, a growth rate of 2.2 per cent per annum, which is higher than Queensland’s forecast population growth rate of 1.8 per cent per annum for the period to 2031.
“In general terms, this reflects the move of resident populations across Australia, away from inland regions to the coast,” he said.
Principal of Ray White Whitsundays Mark Beale said that the shortage has been pushing renters into considering home buying.
“People are increasingly looking to buy rather than rent as it makes sense financially, given the way rents are rising,” he said.
“At the current rate of uptake, Airlie Beach is getting to a critically low stage where more residential development is needed to facilitate the existing population and predicted growth,” he said.
“We need more stock to satisfy the number of new investors, homebuyers and renters moving into the area.”
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