In 2020, a year that saw record drought, devastating bushfires and the now infamous Covid-19 outbreak, Yass also saw a 26% increase in weekly rental growth from the prior year. With many people using the pandemic to rethink their plans and accelerating a sea change to regional NSW some cities, like Yass, have experienced a rental boom that is unrelenting. Coupled with a grow local economy and many expect the increase to both the rental and buying property market to continue for some time to come as people adjust to the new norm post Covid-19.
Record Prices
The year on year rental growth in Yass has resulted in the average weekly rental soar to $530 per week from less than $415 just 12 months prior. With government employment stabilizing the local Canberra economy, many residents have taken advantage of record low interest rates and pent up demand for houses to sell and move to a town or city within 30 minutes commute. The Eurobadalla was the next highest rental growth area with an approximate 12.8% increase followed by Bega up 12.5% and the Snowy Monaro Region at 11.4%.
The demand for houses has seen many people unable to enter the market and forced to rent on a monthly or rolling 12 month lease until a house becomes available. All of the local economy is benefiting with approximately 60% of Yass residents now being employed in Canberra and doing the daily commute. From Self Storage to home improvements, new home owners are finding the time to reinvest in their house or de-clutter and enjoy their space.
Self Storage
With the rental squeeze in the local Yass market, which has resulted in people waiting for more than a year for the right house to become available, many people have looked to secure their items and take advantage of the flexibility that month to month rental contract Self Storage has to offer.
Hepworth Self Storage has fielded enquiries from as far as northern NSW and northern Sydney to enquire about rental space whilst they find a new home in the near term. Several young families have also taken advantage of forced savings from government ordered quarantine to redo their gardens, bathrooms and empty out that cluttered garage!
The Future
With the vaccine rollout in Australia and abroad commencing, the whole world will be looking forward to returning to some normality in the months and years ahead. However, studies have shown that a lasting effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the shift to online and remote working that will enable people to work from anywhere in the future whilst also adding fuel to the desire of wanting more and more space that any sea change can bring from the regions of NSW to a small coastal retreat. It seems that there will be no let up in rental prices with the limited inventory of free and ready rental properties for Yass and any commutable city and township in the future.
