Orange is now the most expensive place to rent in the Central West with the number of houses and units also in short supply.
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New data shows rental costs during the past 12 months have spiked by around six per cent.
As of Wednesday this week there were only 132 houses and units available for rent in Orange, which is down from 163 a week ago.
The Domain Rental Report for the December 2018 quarter showed the median cost to rent a home in Orange is $370 a week which is up from $350 in the past year.
Orange’s rents are higher than Bathurst ($350), Dubbo ($350), Young ($270) and Cowra ($250).
The data also shows that Orange has the most expensive weekly median rental costs for units at $265, compared to $252.50 in Bathurst and Dubbo.
Not only are rents more expensive in Orange, but the city recorded the highest percentage increase in costs across the Central West during the past year.
In the past year, median rents for homes in Orange spiked by 5.7 per cent (from $350 to $370) while unit rents jumped 6 per cent (from $250 to $265).
McCormack Barber real estate director Peter McCormack said rental properties were in short supply in Orange and he expected the situation to continue for the next six months.
He said figures on real estate website realestate.com.au showed there had been a 20 per cent reduction in availablity in the past week.
With 132 available on Wednesday it is still above a low point of 104 available in September.
Mr McCormack said it was currently a busy time for rental demand in Orange with people seeking to move in ahead of the school year starting.
“We’re getting large volumes of applications for properties, about 3-10 applications per property,” he said.
Mr McCormack said that was creating problems for about 25 per cent of applicants who did not have clean records of rental history and were missing out on getting a property.
“You need to get your ledger in order. It it’s not squeaky clean good luck finding a property,” he said.
Andrew Vogler, licensee at Century 21 Combined Orange real estate, said it was a busy month for rental demand.
“It’s a traditional time for people to relocate,” he said.
“We are getting multiple applications. A lot of our property is going quickly.”
In Bathurst median house rents increased by 2.9 per cent (from $340 to $350) and Young jumped by 3.8 per cent (from $260 to $270).
During the past year, however, it became a little cheaper to rent units in some locations such as Bathurst where costs fell by 2.9 per cent (from $260 to $252.50) and Dubbo where prices dropped 1.0 per cent (from $255 to $252.50).
For investors, rental yield fell in many locations across the Central West during the past 12 months.
In Orange yields on house and units fell during the past year by 2.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively while in Bathurst, yields on a house fell 1.2 per cent, while units increased by 1.7 per cent.
In Dubbo, yields on a house fell 0.1 per cent, while units increased by 2.2 per cent.
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