Housing prices in Griffith have skyrocketed as demand far outweighs supply and potential homeowners or renters start getting desperate.
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The median house price for regional NSW recently hit over $600,000. In the June quarter, house prices increased by 6.4 per cent, however the annual 16.6 per cent increase represents the highest spike in housing prices since 2004.
Melissa Zuccato, Principal of Ray White in Griffith, said that while the news wasn't exactly unwelcome as a real estate agent, the housing crisis needed to be addressed.
"It's a positive from an ownership point of view because their homes aren't sitting idle but from a tenancy point of view, it's really hard," she said regarding the rental properties in Griffith.
Ray White currently manages around 400, and there are almost zero empty ones.
While rental properties are being bought up rapidly, Mrs Zuccato said that it was disheartening to see so many applicants desperate to find housing and having to tell them that a house had gone to somebody else.
I don't think it's a process that can happen quickly, but there's no point in not starting..."
- Melissa Zuccato
"It's hard having to make that call to someone and say no, but we just don't have the houses to go around ... There's no quick-fix," she said.
"I don't think it's a process that can happen quickly, but there's no point in not starting the process."
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Nathan Thomas from Soul Property Agents is a bit more optimistic.
"It seems like a pretty dramatic spike, but if you look over the last decade, there was a pretty significant period of time where prices were flat so on average, Griffith is trending the way we hoped it would," he explained.
He added that while rentals weren't looking good in the immediate future,he had hope for the longer-term.
"We're seeing landlords that have owned property for a while starting to sell. Unfortunately with that happening, a lot of purchasers are not investors, they're homeowners," he said.
"It certainly doesn't help people immediately, but we can definitely see a good volume of investors buying the upcoming land ... there's just a lag in development and homes to be built. We believe there's relief coming."
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