When rental vacancies drop to 2 per cent of all rental housing, it’s considered a crisis. Griffith is below 1 per cent.
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There are people couch surfing, living in caravan parks and motels; and rents are skyrocketing. So how bad is Griffith’s housing crisis? What is the cause? Is there an end in sight?
We spoke to Brendan Catanzariti and Jeanette Cunial at Elders Real Estate and have summarised their answers below.
Is there a housing crisis in Griffith?
Yes there is. There are a lot of people moving to Griffith with excellent job opportunities and very few properties for sale, and even fewer to rent. We manage approx 750 properties, and at present we have just two houses and one unit available for rent.
Are we seeing rental prices going up as a result of the shortage?
We would say rental prices have gone up by a minimum of 20 per cent over the past year.
What has caused this housing crisis?
Griffith is in a boom,with confidence high in our area within a wide range of industries and the need for more workers remains steady. The supply of rental properties has not kept up with this increased demand, due to the lack of land being developed, existing home owners have no choice to upsize or upgrade to a newer property, hence some are opting to renovate their current homes. This has stimulated the local building industry but we are seeing fewer homes on the market than experienced in recent years.
Is there an end to the crisis in sight?
In the short term this challenge will continue, until more land is released, but they’ll be a lag before developments are complete and rentals are ready to live in.