Report sparks hope for renters

Experts have indicated a “glimmer of hope” for renters in Logan, but the current climate is far from healthy.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s (REIQ) latest quarterly Residential Vacancy Rate Report shows most renters across the state have “more choice than they had a year ago” despite a slightly tightening market over the last quarter.

The City of Logan’s vacancy rate, however, rose slightly – climbing from 1 per cent to 1.1 per cent and reaching its highest level in two years.

REIQ’s chief operating officer Dean Milton said Logan’s vacancy rate continued to “steadily climb”.

“This returns local rental market conditions to 2021 levels after experiencing slightly tighter vacancy rates during 2022,” Mr Milton said.

“While a 1.1 per cent vacancy rate is still far from what we consider to be a healthy range from 2.6 – 3.5 per cent, the promising upward trend provides a glimmer of hope for renters. 

“A quick look on rental listing portals reveals hundreds of rental options in Logan, but chances are these won’t last on the market for long.”

According to the report Logan appears to be faring slightly better than Brisbane, which has a 1 per cent vacancy rate, but worse than the Gold Coast which has a rate of 1.2 per cent.

Over the past decade, Logan’s peak vacancy rate occurred in the second quarter of 2019, reaching 3.5 percent, which marked the upper limit of REIQ’s ‘healthy range’ and nearly doubled within a mere three months.

The city’s average vacancy rate between 2012 and 2020 was around 2.2 per cent.

This figure hasn’t been reached since Covid, with a steady decline in vacancy until June 2022 when the rate trajectory flipped at 0.6 per cent.

Mr Milton suggested low vacancy rates might linger a little while longer.

“Logan will continue to remain an attractive location for people to live which may lead to vacancy rates remaining low for an extended period of time,” he said.

“Real estate professionals on-the-ground are reporting that while this gradual relaxation of vacancy rates has meant more choice for renters, there’s substantially more competition at the more affordable end of the market.”