'Intense pressure': Dubbo renters could pay $5k more this year

With job vacancies hitting new heights and the economy booming, Dubbo is an attractive place to live, but if you're in the rental market, you are in for a battle.

This is according to Simon Pressley, Head of Research at Propertyology, who likened the local rental market to "the proverbial seagulls fighting over a chip".

He said rent was likely to rise by $100 per week on average across Dubbo this year, or $5000 for the year, creating "intense pressure" for people looking to move.

He said it was a straight case of supply and demand, with not enough rentals on the market for those who wanted them, therefore jacking up prices.

"Dubbo currently has 27 properties advertised for rent, which is not much for a city with a population of 54,000 people," Mr Pressley told the Liberal.

"During the same month two years ago, vacancy rates were tight but there were 90 properties advertised for rent in Dubbo.

"Twenty-seven today is an all-time low in the history of rental data, which goes back to 2005. There's never been less properties advertised for rent in Dubbo than now."

He said using the estate agent's rule of thumb that for every 10 dwellings, three of those are rented, there were roughly 7000 rental homes in Dubbo, meaning if any of those 7000 households were looking to move then they would be "fighting over" only 27 advertised properties.

"In 2005, Dubbo's population was 47,000, but even though you've got 7000 more people living here now, you've got less properties advertised for rent," Mr Pressley said.

"We need to make more rental accommodation, but we're not doing that."

He said COVID-19 wasn't the cause of the problem, though it had attracted people to regions like Dubbo.

"The cause of the rental crisis is we've had six consecutive years where the number of people who purchase properties for investment purposes has been a lot lower than rental demand required," he said.

Housing NSW data shows median rents in Dubbo rose to year-high levels in the September 2021 quarter, with three-bedroom dwellings rising an average of 8.57 per cent to $380.

Laura Shooter, managing director of SJ Shooter Real Estate Dubbo and spokesperson for Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) Orana Division, said "certainly the evidence in the marketplace is that rise will continue."

"Our local council and REINSW are talking with each other about council's role to improve the supply of land into our marketplace, and ensure our zoning is in line with our future housing needs," she said.

Mrs Shooter called the situation a "perfect storm".

"We are exploding for amazing opportunities for people to come to the regions and be part of this incredible economic boom, but the catch is that you really need to be organised and 'suit up' to get into a house," she said.

She stressed it was "a temporary situation" and that these "positive stress factors" meant it was still "very much an exciting time" to move to Dubbo.