Now is the time for savvy renters to pick up a bargain in Wagga, according to real estate agents, with good deals even at the top end of town.
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Raine and Horne Wagga property manager Julie Schnoegl said landlords were keen to find tenants across the city and had dropped their prices accordingly.
“A four-bedroom home in a good area is normally about $450 a week, but now they’re closer to $420… rents have dropped back considerably across the board,” Ms Schnoegl said. “There’s still a lot of the lower end (rentals) sitting there, cheaper units in the lower areas like Ashmont and Tolland. But last week we leased seven properties and they were at the higher end of the market, from $380 to $400s.”
On Monday morning, there were 277 properties listed for rent in Wagga on domain.com.au, ranging from rooms in share houses at $160 per week to deluxe, fully-furnished houses in Central Wagga for $575 per week.
Wagga Property Management director Dave Skow said tenants could pick up a bargain if they were able to lease outside of the peak summer period.
“If they’re flexible, definitely looking outside of the summer months is beneficial from a tenant’s point-of-view,” Mr Skow said. “It’s the age-old supply and demand thing, there’s not as many people around to compete against and so the prices are softer in winter.”
With a number of government employers in the city, summer is often accompanied by a number of short-term residents moving in and out of Wagga. It’s a trend the real estate agents are well aware of and try to work with.
“The summer cycle is better,” Ms Schnoegl said. “I’m a landlord myself and I just leased my place out after it was vacant for nine weeks. People will lease until Christmas to get back into the cycle and then get back onto the 12-month leases.”
The abundance of cheaper rentals in the city meant people on low-to-middle incomes were able to find some affordable homes, but problems highlighted in Anglicare’s annual rental affordability report – a survey of 319 properties on March 24 – remained.
Anglicare could not find even one property available for rent in Wagga for young people relying on Centrelink payments such as Youth Allowance or Newstart. For a single working person earning the minimum wage, there were just 20 properties available for rent in the city.