Bendigo rental market ‘failing’

BENDIGO’S private housing rental is as critical as it was a year ago despite an on-paper doubling of available houses, a leading Bendigo estate agent says.Real Estate Institute of Victoria figures show private residential rental vacancy rates in Bendigo were at 0.9 per cent in January.This is up from 0.6 per cent in November last year, 0.1 per cent in May and 0.4 per cent in January 2010.But the Bendigo market remains tighter than in Melbourne (2.0 per cent), Geelong (1.7 per cent), the Latrobe Valley and West Gippsland (1.9 per cent) and East Gippsland (1.6 per cent). Only Ballarat, at 0.7 per cent for January, is worse off.Director of Curnow Dyett real estate and the immediate past chairman of the REIV’s Bendigo branch, Noel Dyett, said the reported increase was most likely no increase at all.“You will probably find that on the day the figures were taken, there were a couple of vacancies that were not there the next day, Mr Dyett said.“You take those figures with a grain of salt. There’s no difference between 0.6 and 0.9 per cent”.The chief executive of Haven, Ken Marchingo, said the private rental market in Bendigo is failing.“That means there are 200 per cent less houses than there should be in a healthy property market.“Even the REIV acknowledges that a vacancy rate of less than 3 per cent is generally not desirable.”He said the movement of students tended to affect the figures in January.“There has been a lift, but we would expect that at that time of year,” he said.“The property market is probably about where it traditionally is at that time of the year because houses are vacated in December and tend to come on line in January and February.”Are you having trouble finding a house to rent?Let us know. Email jamied@bendigoadvertiser.com.au.