Busselton outperformed all regional centres in Western Australia, rising as the fastest leasing over the three months to February, according to the latest report from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).
It takes 11 days for a rental property in Busselton to be occupied during the period, nine days faster than in Perth. Over the year, the leasing time for Busselton went down by 12 days.
Damian Collins, president at REIWA, said the quick leasing time was due to the limited supply of available rental properties.
"Property investors in the Busselton regional centre are finding tenants for their rentals quicker than any other regional centre in the state," he said.
Collins said the rental shortage affecting the whole state of Western Australia has caused increased competition among tenants in Busselton, putting upward pressure on its median rent price. In fact, the median weekly rent in Busselton increased from last year's $400 to $500.
Other regional centres also reported lower days-on-market than in Perth. Homes in Albany and Bunbury took only 16 days before getting occupied.
"Albany’s median leasing time has quickened by seven days when comparing the three months to February 2021 to the three months to February 2020, while the median leasing time in Bunbury reduced by 16 days when comparing those same time frames," Collins said.
On a suburb level within regional Western Australia, four that had the fastest median leasing times were located in the southwest region while three were from the Bunbury regional centre.
The 10 regional suburbs with the fastest median leasing time in the three months to February 2021 were Australind (15 days), Eaton (15 days), Bridgetown (16 days), Spencer Park (17 days), Bunbury (21 days), Newman (23 days), Kalgoorlie (24 days), Bulgarra (26 days), Cable Beach (26 days) and Wandina (29 days).
"Regional WA, like Perth, is suffering from a rental shortage and needs an influx of investor activity to inject more private rental stock into the market and help house the growing number of tenants across the state who are searching for a rental," Collins said.
