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A number of regional centres have surpassed Perth in terms of the fastest median leasing time, with the city of Busselton leading the charge.
In the three months to February 2021, Busselton emerged as the fastest-leasing regional centre in Western Australia, with the median time to lease a rental at 11 days, according to data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).
This was significantly lower than the city’s median leasing day last year at 23 days.
REIWA president Damian Collins said that Busselton’s median leasing time is now nine days faster than Perth’s, which currently sits at 20 days.
According to Mr Collins, the state’s rental shortage is driving much of the demand across regional centres and, as a result, the quick leading times.
“This has caused increased competition among tenants in Busselton and put upwards pressure on the regional centre’s median rent price, which increased by $100 a week to $500 when compared to the three months to February 2020,” the president noted.
Albany and Bunbury are also leading the charge, with the average home only spending 16 days vacant.
In comparison to the same time period in 2020, Albany properties were taking 23 days to find tenants, while Bunbury was reporting a median vacant period of 32 days.
With demand clearly on the way up,, Albany and Bunbury’s median rental prices have also increased.
Both towns are now reporting a median weekly rental price of $380 — from $360 and $350, respectively.
Suburb level
Drilling down to the suburb level, the 10 regional suburbs with the fastest median leasing time in the three months to February 2021 were Australind (15 days), Eaton (15 days), Bridgetown (16 days), Spencer Park (17 days), Bunbury (21 days), Newman (23 days), Kalgoorlie (24 days), Bulgarra (26 days), Cable Beach (26 days) and Wandina (29 days).
Of the top 10, four were located in the South West region while three were from the Bunbury regional centre, Mr Collins pointed out.
With demand showing no signs of slowing, the president said there’s a real need for more stock to enter the market.
“Regional WA, like Perth, is suffering from a rental shortage and needs an influx of investor activity to inject more private rental stock into the market and help house the growing number of tenants across the state who are searching for a rental,” he concluded.
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