Traditionally speaking the month of January in the Real Estate world has always been busy with people moving towns and interstate following the end of the festive season, however in recent years we have been seeing a change to this with January being a slower month especially in the rental sector.
Within the Property Management Department at Merrifield Real Estate our stats show quite clearly that the summer rush in January has now moved to February which has experienced a huge increase in the number of properties being leased. During January for the past 3 years there has been an average of 7 properties leased, however the month of February has shown a large increase with an average of 15 properties leased for the month. This is obviously great news for anyone with a rental property becoming available at this time of year as demand is higher and prices can be slightly adjusted according to what is on offer.
As at today there is currently 84 properties available throughout the Albany area being advertised on www.realestate.com.au this amount is quite low which helps push prices higher and allows for a faster turnaround when advertising your property for lease. Generally speaking this time of year sees majority of tenants made up of families with couples coming in close behind, the flow of people moving to Albany from Perth and interstate increases at this time of year with many families wanting to secure properties close to preferred schools to ensure they are in the correct catchment intake.
Previous records show that 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom properties are always in high demand with 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom homes coming a close second due to the drop in rental value. Many prospective Tenants are looking for value for money when it comes to choosing a rental property whilst ensuring the suburb is also a good area. Well-maintained properties with minimal maintenance issues also seems to be something prospective tenants are much more concerned about and whether the property allows pets. We see a huge difference in demand when pets are considered and when they are not; by allowing animals Landlords do feel the risk is higher however there are some benefits such as increased tenancy terms, higher rental yields and lower vacancy times which can outweigh these problems.
All in all the prospect is looking good for the month of February, if previous years are to go by we will see a large increase of prospective tenant enquiries with plenty of properties being leased.
