Sunshine Coast rents soar

Rents across the Sunshine Coast have increased dramatically during the past two years, with the latest RP Data survey revealing the average tenant is spending at least 30 per cent of their income on rent, 35% if they rent a home.

Those are the percentages banks once estimated mortgage repayments to be.

Government figures reveal a two bedroom flat in the Caloundra coastal region which was leased at $230/week in the September quarter of 2006 is now leased for $60 more.

The same flat in Alexandra Headland which cost $260 two years ago would now be leased for an average $325 a week.

Mr. Ford discovered for himself just how tough the rental market can be when he offered the second bedroom of his two room, one bath unit in Mooloolaba for rent.

“The first day I had four people call, the second day 12 people called,” he said.

“The majority of people I spoke to said they can’t afford to rent a house themselves. Many of them had moved to the Sunshine Coast and found it really expensive compared to where they were, so they have to go back to shared accommodation.”

It is a trend which Mooloolaba Ray White property manager Kristy Sloan said was common.

“We have a lot of couples and friends or two couples coming in to rent something together, as long as there are two bathrooms,” she said.

The Mooloolaba Ray White office was one of the few real estate offices to open over the Christmas and New Year break and Ms Sloan said they received more than 14 rental applications during the two week period.

“We have a lot of owners reducing prices,” she said.

“Our owners have been willing to reduce rents to get people in straight away. The $10 $15 a week reduction may not seem much to them over the year, but it means a lot to those who are renting.”

Carolyn Wray McCann, a property manager with Laguna Real Estate in Noosa Heads said there had been a strong response to rental properties after a traditionally slow Christmas break.

She said more holiday home owners had asked for appraisals which could indicate more rentals could come on to the market this year as owners decide whether there is more value in transferring the property over to tenants.

Housing minister Robert Schwarten said almost all major cities and towns in Queensland recorded rental increases in the past year.