Property analysts are warning the Gold Coast's rental supply could hit "new record lows", as househunters bear the brunt of higher rents and fewer options than ever before.
The total number of rental listings on the Gold Coast is the lowest it has ever been, according to new data from CoreLogic.
That supply could thin to record levels in the lead up to Christmas, as rents continue to soar and supply dwindles.
Property researchers fear there is no end in sight.
Some renters have reported being asked to "bid" against other applicants, as the property market swings heavily in favour of landlords.
'Quite annoying'
Joel Ceh and his partner Ash Knight have been looking for a rental on the Gold Coast since May.
They've been applying for up to three places a week, and often struggle to make house inspections during work hours.
"It's really quite annoying," Mr Ceh said.
"The amount of people at inspections is increasing and we've noticed, when we apply for rentals, they only open for one inspection and that's it.
"We get no emails or calls back — apart from 'you didn't get the place', really."
The pair have been living out of a single room at a friend's place in the meantime.
"It would be nice to have our own place by Christmas and be all settled in, but it's looking more and more unlikely," Mr Ceh said.
"We still have all our stuff packed up under the house for when we find a place.
"We only have access to half our clothes at a time in the hope we're going to be moving soon."
Highest rents ever
Mr Ceh said they had been caught in bidding wars, and on one occasion were asked to increase their rental offer.
"Another couple put down a higher rate than what we had, and we were asked to increase the rate from the asking price," he said.
On the Gold Coast, median rents are higher than pre-COVID and growing.
The median weekly rent for a house is $868, which is $248 a week more than in 2019.
For a unit, it is $662 a week — up by $173.
"Over the past 12 months, for example, we've seen house rents across the coast increase by 15 per cent and unit rents are up more 16.5 per cent reflecting that lower vacancy rate," head of research at CoreLogic Tim Lawless said.
Director of economic research at PropTrack Cameron Kusher said rent bidding was "reflective of the desperation and competition out there in the market."
"Obviously from a landlord's perspective, their costs have gone up as well, so they want to get as much rent as they possibly can," he said.
"These conditions are really harming people, particularly people who are renting and have relatively low income.
"There's just this ongoing decline in the pool of rental stock available for them and there's no real sign that that's going to change anytime soon."
Fewest rentals ever
There were only 1,993 rental listings for the city last month, the lowest recorded according to Mr Lawless.
"The flow of the listings compared to the five-year average is remarkably low. It's down by about a third," he said.
Rentals listed on a popular real estate website are only advertised for 15 days on average, according to Mr Kusher.
"Realistically, when you think about it, that's only enough time to put up the ad, have the open home, work through all the applications, then find someone and choose someone," he said.
"Nationally, it is sitting at 19 days.
"If we go back to pre-COVID it was typically sitting at about 24–25 days, so it really does highlight just how tight this rental market is at the moment."
'Challenging' Christmas ahead
According to CoreLogic, December tends to have the fewest total rental listings compared to the rest of the year.
Mr Lawless said new rental listings typically dropped by almost 30 per cent between November and December — a "stark number".
"Chances are, considering the trends in rental listings were already low … we'll probably see the number of new rental listings coming into the market through December trending lower and even trending to new record lows," he said.
Mr Lawless attributed the drop to agents going on holidays, and landlords converting their long-term rentals to short-term holiday stays.
Mr Kusher said the season was lucrative for landlords.
"December is seasonally the slower time," he said.
"If someone has a lease that expires in November or December, they may consider putting their property in the short-term rental market because of the really good returns they can get.
"Unfortunately, I don't see it getting any better for rentals over the next few months. I think it is going to get tougher for people looking for rental accommodation."
Mr Ceh said he and his partner were now considering buying to escape the rental rip-tide.
"It has come to that where it's almost more feasible to buy a place for the rates they want in rent," he said.
"It was always our plan [to buy] eventually, but the decision has been sped up a bit."
