The Central West is bucking the state trend when it comes to rental accommodation availability, something the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) says is an indicator the region is in trouble.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
President of the REINSW Malcolm Gunning said the vacancy rate of rental properties across the Central West has jumped to 4.3 per cent, making it easier to find rental accommodation here than anywhere else in the state.
He said when the Central West figures are broken down, Bathurst seems to be “tracking pretty well”. Dubbo is also not doing too badly.
“It’s Orange that is letting the team down,” Mr Gunning said.
He said while this is good for tenants because there is greater competition and more choice, it shows there needs to be greater jobs creation in regional NSW.
Mr Gunning said with industries closing down in the Central West, there are not so many new people coming into the community, and therefore fewer people are needing rental accommodation.
“To me, this indicates the state government needs to look at regional NSW in terms of jobs creation,” he said.
“There is plenty of work in Sydney so people are gravitating there, maybe from the Central West.
“It’s not good. There must be strong incentives for people to move to regional NSW.”
Mr Gunning said the reason we are probably faring better than Orange is because Bathurst is getting the flow on from people getting out of expensive Sydney and retirees looking for a tree change.
He said the implementation of a daily rail service was also instrumental in attracting more people to the Bathurst region.
There is a trend of people moving to Bathurst and commuting to Penrith and Parramatta which are on the rail line.
“People are selling up in Sydney and getting good value for their money in Bathurst,” he said.
