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For Whitsunday renters, the latest figures suggest finding a home remains a significant challenge. Photo source: Shutterstock
The Whitsunday rental market has tightened further, with the region recording one of Queensland’s biggest declines in rental availability during the June quarter.
The latest Residential Vacancy Rate Report from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) found the Whitsunday vacancy rate fell by 0.4 percentage points over the three months to June, dropping to just 0.9 per cent.
The result places Whitsunday firmly within the REIQ’s classification of a ‘tight’ rental market, with any vacancy rate below 2.5 per cent considered tight.
Whitsunday was among the regions experiencing the most significant tightening across Queensland, alongside Mount Isa, which recorded a 0.7 percentage point decline, and Townsville and Lockyer Valley, which each fell by 0.3 percentage points.
The latest figures come as Queensland’s rental market remains constrained overall, despite more than half of the regions monitored by the REIQ recording an increase in vacancies during the quarter.
Statewide, the vacancy rate edged up to 1.0 per cent, still well below the REIQ’s ‘healthy’ range of 2.6 to 3.5 per cent. Of the 50 regions tracked, 29 recorded vacancy rates of 1.0 per cent or less.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the market remained under pressure, with affordability influencing both tenants and property owners.
“We’re seeing more regions relax than tighten, particularly across parts of regional Queensland, but we're still a long way from what anyone would call a healthy rental market,” Ms Mercorella said.
She said increasing housing supply remained the most sustainable solution to Queensland’s rental and affordability pressures.
For Whitsunday renters, however, the latest figures suggest finding a home remains a significant challenge, with fewer than one in every 100 rental properties estimated to be vacant.
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