THE vacancy rate for rentals in the Swan Hill region for one real estate is below the average in the Mallee and Mildura, compared to regional Victoria and the state.
LJ Hooker Swan Hill senior property investment manager Alistair Ward said their vacancy rate was at 0 per cent for the past four months.
This compares to 1.1 per cent in Mildura and the Mallee, and the state average of 2 per cent for October 2019, according to Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).
Additionally, REIV figures show the median rental price for the Swan Hill area is $255 per week across all forms of residential property.
In regional Victoria, median rental house prices shot up $20, while units saw a $30 increase since October 2018, following a vacancy rate of 1.6 per cent for regional Victoria last month.
The vacancy rate in this context refers to the the proportion of unlet properties to the total rent roll in percentages.
“Several years ago, the Swan Hill region had a clear peak and trough in demand with the summer months being our peak season for rental demand,” Mr Ward said.
“In recent years, this has changed and we are now seeing demand remain strong for 12 months of the year across all sectors of our portfolio and in all areas – both Swan Hill and outlying regional areas.”
Mr Ward said the data in the REIV report confirmed the rental market was tight, particularly in the Swan Hill region.
“For the past four months, our office vacancy rate has been 0 per cent indicating that our market is extremely tight,” Mr Ward said.
“Over the past few years, we would average no more than 1 per cent vacancy across our portfolio on any given month.”
Mr Ward said the figures suggested a high demand for rental properties in the Swan Hill region coming from all sectors in the community.
He said this was especially evident with horticultural workers seeking rentals during the summer months, adding to the summer season demand.
“More recently, there has been a greater demand for families and professionals seeking higher end properties,” he said.
“This has certainly placed pressure on the availability of modern family homes.”
He said public sector workers were also seeking rentals and those associated with large infrastructure projects in the region, such as the solar farm being built in Balranald.
“This project has seen a very large influx of workers come from all over Australia seeking accommodation in and around Balranald,” Mr Ward said.
“Unfortunately, Balranald does not have enough available rental accommodation and this has lead to those seeking accommodation to look to Swan Hill and surrounds to find suitable accommodation.
“Some of these workers are after short-term rentals (three months) whilst others have been 12-18 months.”
He said this also added demand to the local market.
Mr Ward said the October 2019 vacancy rate in the Swan Hill region had dropped by 0.7 per cent on the October 2018 rate.
“While, the statewide average appeared to be constant from October 2018 to October 2019,” he said.
“This reaffirms that the rental market in our region has tightened even further.
“Ultimately, this leads to increased demand for property and upward pressure on rental prices.”
For Noel Watson Real Estate, their rental occupancy currently sits at 100 per cent.
Managing director Noel Watson said the real estate agency had placed 10 renters in homes in the past two-and-a-half-weeks alone.
“We are out there doing everything we can to try and get people to buy and invest, but the problem is there’s not many houses to buy,” Mr Watson said.
“The difficulty on the other side is that for the investors that are prepared to buy, there’s not enough out there for them to buy.”
Mr Watson said people enquiring about properties in the region were left disappointed with nowhere to rent.
“Which is not good for Swan Hill, because we need accommodation for all classes of tenant, whether they want a one-bedroom flat or not,” he said.
“You might end up with six to 10 applicants per property.”
Mr Watson said the weekly rental price in Swan Hill through Noel Watson Real Estate was between $120 and $600.
He said those wanting to rent properties included new people to town, such as teachers, police officers and senior executives.
Mr Watson said this time of year was also a difficult time for investors wanting to purchase properties due to some solicitors closing their business during Christmas.
REIV president Leah Calnan said there was an urgent need for more rental accommodation across Victoria.
“Healthy vacancy rates should be around 4 per cent, but most of the state is sitting at 1 or 2 per cent and increasing demand has led to rental price climbing,” she said.
