It's been months now and Tamworth's rental vacancy pinch has not eased an inch.
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Nearby Gunnedah has been identified as having one of the lowest vacancy rates across the state, in a report that predicts a rental crisis nation-wide.
But while their real estate agents predict a wave of vacancies around mid-2021 as projects finish and Home Builder houses are complete, one Tamworth property manager can't see the same for Tamworth.
Natalie Graham from Burke and Smyth says it's too unpredictable out there, with current trends unlike anything ever experienced.
"Initially when Covid started, a lot of feedback was that people had the time, working from home, to sit down and look at rental lists to see what was available, to get something that better suited their needs, or to downsize or upsize," she explained.
But that influx is not stopping. They are sitting at a 0.8 vacancy rate, while the town's average is 1.5.
Terry Ryder from hotspotting.com.au and Simon Pressley from Propertyology say a sharp decline in construction since 2017 and less investors in the market has created a "limited supply of rentals and unprecedented competition among tenants".
Gunnedah's Robertson's Real Estate property manager Ben Robertson said for the past three months he's been at 100 per cent occupancy, attributed it to the volume of business coming through.
"It's a combination of mining, the recent rail overpass project, the solar farms, and general influx of people coming Gunnedah," he said.
"They'll be moving out within three months, some in six months to the next year, so it should ease it up again after that," he hoped.
Gunnedah's LJ Hooker principal Richard Gallen has experienced the same zero occupancy rates.
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He said the Home Builder incentive has meant new arrivals have made the plunge for their own property, which will hopefully leave a void in the rental market.
"[I]t's normal for them to rent for a few months to a year and then they'll move in," he explained.
"With the incentives it's very attractive to do that now."