While market pressures have pinned Queensland vacancy rates down during 2022, REIQ data released today shows the year has ended with a slight uplift across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the 50 local government areas and sub regions covered in the REIQ\u2019s Residential Vacancy Rate Report for the December 2022 Quarter, 43 experienced a vacancy rate rise compared to the previous quarter, while the remaining seven were static.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state-wide vacancy rate rose from 0.6 per cent in the September quarter to 0.8 per cent to close the year, at an improved yet still critically low rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella welcomed the momentary relief but said vacancy rates were still far too low to be considered \u2018healthy\u2019 and it was too early to draw conclusions that there is a material shift in the rental market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPromising as this news may seem, we\u2019re taking it with a grain of salt until we see if this is uplift is here to stay or if it\u2019s merely a seasonal fluctuation,\u201d Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTiny movements, however hopeful, should not be overanalysed. What this essentially means is the market is holding tight, and only time will tell if a trend is emerging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn influx of rental property changeovers at the end of the year is certainly not a new phenomenon, and the past decade of vacancy rates reveals patterns of generally higher vacancies in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, the REIQ is hearing from property managers that there is noticeably less exit and entry activity than usual, as there\u2019s still plenty of tenants that are staying put and choosing to renew their lease rather than compete for a new place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven with this small improvement in rates, let\u2019s not forget that we\u2019re still talking about incredibly low vacancy figures which tells us there\u2019s no-where near enough rental properties to meet demand, and tough conditions continue for tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While upward movements in most areas stayed between 0.1 \u2013 0.3 per cent, Redland\u2019s Bay Islands rose by 1.8 per cent to a considerably weak vacancy rate of 6.0 per cent, and Mount Isa was a standout lifting by 1.1 per cent to 2.4 per cent \u2013 teetering on the edge of \u2018healthy\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other regional areas which saw vacancy rates relax substantially over the quarter were Gladstone (1.6%), Mackay (1.0%), Townsville (1.0%) and neighbouring Burdekin (1.1%), Central Highlands (0.9%), Isaac (1.7%), Lockyer Valley (0.8%), and Maranoa (0.9%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, tourism areas which welcomed markedly more residential vacancies in the December quarter, were Hervey Bay (1.1%) and Fraser Coast (0.9%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast rates barely budged, both now sitting at 0.7 per cent, and there was no relief whatsoever for the Caloundra Coast (0.7%), Maroochy Coast (0.4%) or Sunshine Coast Hinterland (0.4%) which includes towns such as Maleny, Nambour and Eumundi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With no surprises on the list, the regions that took out the tightest vacancy rates in the state were Southern Downs (0.2%), Cook (0.3%), Goondiwindi (0.3%) and Tablelands (0.3%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Mercorella said the REIQ\u2019s expectation is that this year will bring more of the same stubbornly tight conditions for the Queensland rental market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s likely that 2023 will be a case of \u2013 New year, same rental pressures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur state will continue to feel the impact of population growth with very strong interstate migration as well international migration including students set to return in force to the southeast corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis increased demand will continue to apply pressure to an already strained rental market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQueensland is crying out for additional housing supply to ease the tight conditions, but building costs and planning red tape are putting the brakes on new construction, while higher costs, more challenging lending conditions, and reduced legislative rights are deterring vital private property investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis report has delivered some fleeting good news, but we\u2019re certainly not at a turning point yet, and with these economic factors continuing to apply pressure, it\u2019s hard to see any significant changes in sight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast facts: December Quarter 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n – Queensland Vacancy Rate: 0.8%<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Tightest Vacancy Rate: 0.2% (Southern Downs), followed by 0.3% (Cook, Goondiwindi, Tablelands)<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Highest Vacancy Rate: 6.0% (Redland\u2019s Bay Islands), followed by 2.4% (Mount Isa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Biggest fall: No falls this quarter<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Biggest rise: +1.8% (Redland\u2019s Bay Islands), followed by +1.1% (Mount Isa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The REIQ classes rental markets into three categories, tight, healthy, or weak. These markets are classified according to vacancy rates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – 0 – 2.5% = tight<\/p>\n\n\n\n – 2.6 – 3.5% = healthy<\/p>\n\n\n\n – 3.6% – plus = weak<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was contributed by REIQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find more information at: https:\/\/www.reiq.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While market pressures have pinned Queensland vacancy rates down during 2022, REIQ data released today shows the year has ended with a slight uplift across the state. Of the 50 local government areas and sub regions covered in the REIQ\u2019s Residential Vacancy Rate Report for the December 2022 Quarter, 43 experienced a vacancy rate rise compared to the previous quarter, while the remaining seven were static. The state-wide vacancy rate rose from 0.6 per cent in the September quarter to 0.8 per cent to close the year, at an improved yet still critically low rate. REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella welcomed the momentary relief but saidRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":934,"featured_media":3304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[7,29,53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/934"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3305,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions\/3305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}