The Riverina rental market continues to tighten with new figures showing fewer listings, higher rents and more demand.
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CoreLogic figures from May show the number of rentals available in the Riverina has dropped 39 per cent, and the median rental price has jumped 7.5 per cent in one year.
The numbers also show homes are on the market for two-thirds of the time they were in 2020, with the average turnaround in 2021 just 20 days.
Long-time rental insiders have described the current state of the market as "desperate", with low-income earners having little hope of finding a rental.
Long-time rental insiders described the current state of the market as "desperate" with little hope of a home for low-income renters.
Darryl Kelly runs House to Rent in Wagga, a Facebook page where over 10,000 members share or seek private rentals and he said he's seen nothing like the current state of the market in almost a decade running the page.
"It's extremely hard, it's the hardest I've ever seen it," Mr Kelly said. "People are so desperate they're even offering to pay more rent than what people are asking to secure a house, it is that crazy."
He said vulnerable groups don't stand a chance of finding anything in Wagga right now.
"The people that are on pensions and unemployment and so on, those people haven't got a hope in hell of getting a place," Mr Kelly said. "There's couples out there with both parties working, no animals and they still can't get a place. People on low incomes? They've got Buckley's."
LJ Hooker property manager Marney Sparks concurred with Mr Kelly, saying she has seen vulnerable groups hit hardest.
"Its gotten a lot worse gradually over the last 12 months, this is probably the hardest I've seen it," Ms Sparks said. "I've personally had a lot of single mums struggling to get rentals which is really hard to see."
PRD's Scott Jones said his agency's books show vacancy rate is at 0.04 per cent, even lower than last month's SQM rental vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent.
"Younger people and people with bad rental history are struggling," Mr Jones said, adding that because of the competition, any application less than excellent is likely to miss out.
"It is not always to do with their rental history," he said. "If a stronger renter has applied, a less strong one just won't be able to get over the line."
Mr Kelly worries that the situation is pushing people into dire situations.
"It's desperate... there was a lady on the group living in a tent with her kids," he said. "You can't have that I mean, that's dangerous."
All agreed more housing is needed imminently, with Mr Kelly echoing ongoing concerns the next stop for desperate renters will be homelessness.
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