You know media discussion around Australia’s housing market has jumped the shark when commentators paint landlords as the victim after experiencing one of the biggest booms in both prices and rents in the nation’s history.
Alas, that is exactly what The Courier-Mail’s associate editor, Kylie Lang has done, blaming Queensland’s rental crisis on “deadbeat tenants”:
Who would own an investment property when tenants get to call the shots, they argue.
In October, more disincentives kicked in, including the abolition of “no pets” rules.
While these edicts might find favour with renters, they’re on the nose with landlords, who say their rights are being trampled.
Many are selling up – in a white-hot market, why the heck not? – and switching to shares as a comparatively hassle-free investment.
What this means for Queensland’s rental crisis is there will be even fewer properties available as more owner-occupiers buy in.
Brisbane dwelling values have soared by 40% over the pandemic:
Whereas Brisbane house rents soared by 11.6% in the year to March 2022 – the fastest capital city growth in the nation:
Are we really supposed to feel sorry for property investors that have banked hundreds of thousands of dollars of capital gain, in addition to rising income returns?
Moreover, why should we be concerned with investors “selling up”? These properties won’t just disappear and will have minimal impact on the rental market.
If these properties sell to other investors, then the stock of rental homes will remain unchanged.
If they sell to first home buyers, then the stock of rental housing will fall but the number of households needing to rent will also fall, leaving the supply-demand equation unchanged (other things equal).
These types of articles are so asinine and biased, it is hard to believe that they ever make it to print.
