Mackay vacancy rates ‘tight’, says REIQ
MACKAY’S vacancy rates are “tight”, according to new data from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
The REIQ’s Residential Vacancy Report released this month revealed Queensland is experiencing record low vacancy rates, with most regions remaining tighter than what the REIQ classifies as “healthy”, in 2021.
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The REIQ classes rental markets into three categories: tight 0 to 2.5 per cent, healthy 2.6 to 3.5 per cent or weak 3.6 per cent and higher.
According to the report, Mackay’s vacancy rate is a tight 0.7 per cent and after staying relatively firm in the last quarter, there is little indication of vacancy rates moving much anytime soon.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said she couldn’t recall a time where tight vacancy rates were so consistently and drastically low across Queensland, citing COVID-19 creating unique behaviour.
“We’re experiencing the perfect storm of low housing supply levels, incredibly high interstate migration particularly to our regions, longer length tenancies as tenants choose to stay put for greater security and certainty, and less shared tenancies as people want more space now they’re working from home.
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“A rental market as extraordinarily tight as this presents challenges to the local economy and to the community.
“We acknowledge that whilst current market conditions are favourable from an investor’s perspective, no one wants to see people struggling to find a place to live, forced into unsuitable housing (such as big families crammed in studio apartments), or living unsustainably outside of their means.”
Ms Mercorella said the REIQ’s expectation is that 2022 will bring more of the same competition and more needs to be done to relieve pressure on the rental market.
“Demand for rental properties in Queensland will continue to rise along with the rising population and that growing population needs a roof over its head.
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“With international borders opening, over time we’ll see returning numbers of international students, migrants, and holidaymakers, and this too will add to the strain on rental accommodation.
“Regional areas growing due to new employment prospects will also need to find housing solutions to take advantage of the economic boost a rising population could deliver.
“Queensland needs additional housing supply to ease these tight conditions and accommodate the masses relocating to the state – and this supply simply can’t come soon enough.”
