Queensland rental market faces tight conditions

“Every Queenslander should have access to a safe, secure and affordable home that meets their needs and supports them to participate in the social and economic life of a vibrant and prosperous state,” she said. 

“The rental sector plays a critical role in Queensland’s housing system, and the role and size of our investor market has never been so important.

“Any further tightening in rental availability levels will only place additional undue pressures on our housing sector, which is why more needs to be done to better support both increased and ongoing property investor activity in the Queensland property market and the contributions they make to the state economy.”

To further her point, Ms Mercorella pointed to data collated by the association, which found that over 36 per cent of Queensland’s population rent their home.

Stats also show that the state’s regional areas are currently outperforming major metropolitan areas when it comes to rental demand.

Vacancy rates

1. Maryborough: 0.4 per cent

2. Mount Isa: 0.5 per cent

3. Rockhampton: 0.7 per cent

4. Gympie: 0.9 per cent 

“With more than two-thirds of Queensland experiencing tight rental vacancies, it’s also ‘slim pickings’ across many popular regions, including Caboolture (1.2 per cent), Fraser Coast (1.2 per cent), Mackay (1.3 per cent), Sunshine Coast (1.9 per cent) and Townsville (1.7 per cent), while only marginally higher in Cairns (2.4 per cent), Gladstone (2.0 per cent) and Noosa (2.4 per cent),” Ms Mercorella noted. 

“It’s no surprise that we’ve seen a shift in our state’s rental composition to more affordable rental supplies in outer urban and regional areas during COVID-19. On the plus side, it helps break up their mono-tenure and supports more local economies to withstand the pressures of the pandemic we’re witnessing in our larger cities.

“However, such limited rental supplies have the potential to result in poorly matched housing preferences and impact the urban spatial structure and functioning of these same regions – such as transport costs, labour markets and access to services and amenities. It also shows that there’s a decline in government investment in social housing with more low-income renters in the market.”