Orange's construction boom, the rise in Airbnb accommodation and an increase in people moving to town have led to a shortage of houses and units for rent.
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The squeeze has hit cheaper properties hardest. This week there are only 31 houses and units available for rent below $300 a week in Orange.
That is way below Bathurst which had 60 properties below $300 a week available and Dubbo with 46.
The figures on the Domain real estate website also showed overall there were just 133 properties available for rent in Orange this week, compared to 151 in Bathurst and 144 in Dubbo.
[There's] an increase in the number of people seeking each property.
- Andrew Vogler, Century 21 real estate
And the median price of rent over the past 12 months was highest in Orange at $360 a week for a three bedroom house. The median price for two-bedroom units in Orange was $273 a week.
Century 21 Combined real estate licensee Andrew Vogler said demand was exceeding supply.
"We were expecting a rental squeeze happening this year," he said.
"There's a lot of people moving to Orange for various reasons.
"We've seen a lot of residential properties [fall out] of the market because people are going down the Airbnb route."
He said January-April was traditionally a busy time for people seeking to rent in Orange.
It's been like this for a good 12 months.
- Josh Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Estate Agents
"There has been an increase in the number of people seeking each property," he said.
Mr Vogler said the demand was leading to people missing out on getting a place to stay, particularly those with a record of being late with rental payments.
"You need to make sure you have got a good rental record behind you," he said.
Fitzgerald Estate Agents director Josh Fitzgerald said his agency had received 10-12 enquiries for each property they had listed around the $300 a week mark.
"The enquiries on those have been really, really strong," he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said construction workers coming to Orange for projects including the new DPI building and the Bloomfield Medical Centre had sought rental properties.
Mr Fitzgerald said the workers on short term contracts were preferring to rent rather than buy a home.
He said the rental shortages were ongoing.
"It's been like this for a good 12 months," he said.
He said more houses needed to be built to meet the demands but that required developers to take the plunge to buy and develop houses and units.
Mr Fitzgerald said there was also a need for more units in Orange
He said several blocks of units had been built in Orange in the 1990s.
"It used to be quite common in the '90s. They used to do quite a few," he said.
"That doesn't seem to happen anymore."
The Domain figures showed there were 52 units available in Orange this week, compared to only 33 in Bathurst and 31 in Dubbo.
The increased demand has also contributed to a rise in rental prices and less choice of the types of properties available at this price.
An examination of the properties available for rent under $300 a week in Orange this week showed almost all of them were one and two bedroom units and houses.
There were only four three-bedroom properties and none any larger to accommodate families, available for less than $300 a week.
The lowest-priced property available this week was a one-bedroom unit in Glenroi Avenue which was available for $135 a week.
And the lowest-priced house was a one-bedroom property in McLachlan Street, which was available at $175 a week.
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