A lack of available properties has seen some people waiting 12 months for a rental, while others just can’t compete with Melbournians and their stronger lease histories.
There are just 25 properties available on realestate.com.au in Echuca-Moama, from one-bedroom units to four-bedroom houses, with the average rent sitting around $380 per week.
Ray White principal Lynn Hall said the rental market had been extremely tight since September last year.
“There is a lot of people looking to move to the area and the vacancy rate is extremely low,” she said.
“There’s been anywhere between 20-30 properties listed; a normal level of available properties with all agencies in both towns would be somewhere around 80, so you can see why there is a shortage.
“Our days vacant are pretty much nothing — one tenant out, one in — and our average days on the market is five.”
Charles L King director Troy O’Brien said for each property it listed there were multiple people inquiring.
“One of the reasons for the extra demand is the push since COVID to move to the country, which has had a positive impact.”
Another reason, he explained, was a shortage of residential land in Echuca available for people to build on.
“People who would usually sell a home and build — which leads to having more houses available to rent — has slowed down,” he said.
“At the moment there’s hardly a block of land in Echuca to buy.
“It’s an issue. It is going to cause a major backlog and will have major ramifications because if those lots aren’t available to be bought then the builders won’t have jobs in Echuca.
“When you’ve got a growing community, if you can’t build any more houses how do you get more houses available to buy and rent?”
Century 21 Real Estate’s Tara Kerr said some people had been trying to get into a rental for 12 months.
“I spend most of my day speaking with people having concerns with finding, not just a suitable property, but any property,” she said.
“We’re just not getting the listings. I would suggest there are fewer people moving with the uncertainty of work, the pandemic and border closures.
“A lot of people have stayed in their properties rather than upgrading or relocating.
“Another point would be the restriction on issuing a notice to vacate, which we can’t do due to the pandemic.”
While she also echoed the sentiment that the lack of available land to build was having an impact, she said the influx of people from Melbourne wasn’t making things any easier.
“It makes it quite tough for locals if you’ve got potential tenants from Melbourne who have been leasing properties well above where our return sits,” she said.
“If you’ve got someone who’s been paying $600 a week consistently for three years and you’ve got someone here who’s been renting for $350 a week, a landlord might have more confidence knowing they’ve paid $600 a week.
“If I had more listings, I’d have no issue leasing them out.”
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