GC suburb tops rental shortage

COOMBABAH is the worst suburb in the state for tenants to find somewhere to live, according to new research.

The quarterly rentrabbit.com.au rental crisis report, released this week, identified 20 Queensland suburbs in which tenants desperately need more rental stock.

“Median rents have exploded in the Coombabah house market over the past year, jumping 22.1 per cent to $580,” said Rentrabbit.com.au co-founder Ben Pretty.

“That reflects the decline in vacancy rates during that period, from a very low 0.6 per cent to an outrageously low 0.3 per cent.”

Only one rental house is available in Coombabah, which is listed with Romarna Antees, principal of Home Real Estate Agency.

She said she was getting anywhere from 20 to 90 applicants for rental properties in Coombabah, despite prices creeping up over the past 12 months.

“It’s everywhere and across the board but what’s happening is prices are going further and further up,” she said.

“Sadly, it’s pricing a lot of families out of the immediate area.

“But on the other side we have new investors who are purchasing property at a premium and they’re having to see those higher yields to have them.

“Without the investors we have even less properties for rent.”

The only other Gold Coast suburb to make the list was the unit market at Bilinga. It placed fifth across the state.

Bilinga had a vacancy rate of 0.8 per cent, down from 1.2 per cent 12 months ago, while tenants are paying $450 per week on rent, or almost half of their average weekly household income.