Rents rocket in Queensland's regions

Rents in regional Queensland continue to rise with some regions posting double digit growth, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.

The value of rents in Australia's regions grew 9.4 per cent on average in the year to April, far outpacing rents across the capital cities which grew 3.3 per cent.

In Queensland, several regions shot past the average with Central Queensland rents growing 15.3 per cent, Sunshine Coast rents rising 15 per cent and Gold Coast rents climbing 10.9 per cent.

Extraordinary tightening of rental markets

According to CoreLogic's Head of Residential Research Australia Eliza Owen, the average time a rental property spent on the market has declined from 25 days in the three months to April 2020, to 17 days over April 2021.

"The lowest typical days on market in the rolling quarter was across the Gold Coast, where the median amount of time a rental spent on the market was two weeks," she says.

"The data suggests that tenants are having to compete harder for rental accommodation in major regional centres, both in terms of their wallet, and the pace of their decision making."

Reasons for tight rental markets

• A decline in people migrating from regions to capital cities.
• An increase in migration from cities to regions, potentially by higher-income workers who could be putting upward pressure on rents.
• The effect of short-term tourism accommodation being converted to long-term rentals during the height of COVID-19. Now that travel restrictions have eased, these properties are going back into the short-term tourism market.
• Increased demand for property purchases in the regions, which could be putting upward pressure on rental values. Potential owner-occupiers priced out by new entrants could be placing demand on the rental market.

Read more from CoreLogic.