IF CANUNGRA has caught your eye as a nice play to find a rental we have some bad news.
You will be joining a long queue and there is little to choose from.
A look on real.estate.com earlier this month revealed there were just five properties available and all were expensive.
Three of those were situated in Canungra with prices ranging from $680 a week to $850, while one property in Boyland, a four-bedroom house was listed for $600 weekly and a three-bedroom home at Illinbah on 2ha was offered at $650.
Ray White Property Development Manager, Renee Dunstan, said Canungra was a popular place to rent and because of that properties were scarce.
“We find that rentals are gone within just a few days and we have at least six or seven families lining up from day one to get them.
“We also have a current waiting list of around 15, so you can see how competitive it is to get the keys,” she said.
“Added to this is some rentals are dropping off the market as people who had moved away decide to return home looking to once more embrace the lifestyle of Canungra.
“On the plus side some who took their properties off the long term rental market and put them on Airbnb are now finding that option is too difficult.
“Having to clean them after every visit and having vacant times doesn’t suit them,” Renee said.
In some good news for renters the Miles government has moved to provide bridging loans for rental bonds as part of its $160m package to help battling tenants.
Bonds will also be able to be transferred between rental properties and the government will crack down on dodgy practices such as rent bidding under the initiative.
Bonds for rentals in Queensland are typically four weeks and often amount to thousands of dollars.
Rent bidding (where prospective tenants are encouraged to outbid each other for properties) will also be banned and penalties will be enforced against agents who engage or encourage these practices.
