High rentals, low availability the new normal in Douglas
COSTLY RENTS
Rent rises in the Port Douglas-Daintree are showing few signs of abating, with the rental vacancy rate in the region down again.
Latest research reveals the median rent for an available unit, villa or townhouse in Douglas is currently at $565 per week, while for houses, the median for available properties is $580pw.
“In the 12 months to September, the Port Douglas-Daintree market has seen a further 5.3% rise in rent values,” Head of Research at leading analytical firm CoreLogic, Eliza Owen, told Newsport.
“While this may seem modest compared to annual growth in recent years, it takes the cumulative growth in rents to 34.4% since the onset of the pandemic, or the equivalent of a $132 per week increase,” she said.
“Vacancy rates across the region are low, at 2.4%, compared to 4.1% a year ago.”
CoreLogic puts much of the rapid-rent increases down broadly to what it calls “extraordinary migration trends to the Sunshine state.”
Taken from Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the analysis shows that in the year to March 2022, net internal migration to Queensland peaked at a record high of 51,517.
“In the year to March 2023, this had eased to 31,000, but is still well above the series average,” Ms Owen said.
“Added to that, net overseas migration has now come back at record highs, sitting at 70,203 in the year to March 2023.
“Analysis of migration trends from the ABS shows the vast majority of recent arrivals to Australia are initially renters, and it’s fair to assume a lot of interstate migrants would be doing the same thing.
“The peak of annual rent growth for the Port Douglas-Daintree region was in late 2021, which coincides with the surge in interstate migration earlier on in the pandemic.”
Interestingly, while we might tend to think this region has outpriced itself in the rental market – CoreLogic has compared Port Douglas-Daintree region to other Queensland regions, where rents can be a lot higher.
“The attraction to the Port Douglas-Daintree region may actually be its relative affordability,” Ms Owen said.
“The cumulative rise in rents for the region since the onset of COVID is actually slightly smaller than what was seen across the rest of Queensland – a growth rate of 36.2%.
“Median rents in the Douglas-Daintree market are also cheaper than other lifestyle markets, such as the Gold Coast where median rents are currently $776 per week.”
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