Maitland's rental market is in crisis amid a lack of properties and fierce competition between prospective tenants.
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There is so much demand that a single home can receive up to 100 applications and people are paying a lot more to have the privilege of living in the city and its suburbs.
Tenants are paying up to $250 per week more for a 4 bedroom home in Rutherford and East Maitland, compared. with pre-COVID times.
A 3 bedroom home in Rutherford advertised last month attracted 88 applications and a 4 bedroom home at Cliftleigh, that was advertised for $520 per week on Monday, already has more than 50.
Properties between $450 and $500 are consistently attracting at least 50 applications.
"There are a lot of good tenants that just can't get a foot in the door because the landlords now have so many options," River Realty property management team leader Peter Carter said.
"We have to say no to a lot of good quality tenants and they are getting frustrated and say they are going to give up because they can't get a property."
The Agency's property manager Kim Oldham said some tenants were offering to pay upfront in a bid to separate themselves from the pack, while others said they would pay more than the asking price.
"A lot of people now say that they'll pay 6 months in advance, or 12 months in advance, for that sense of security," she said.
"Our area used to be affordable and now it has been pushed because of the high investment demand and a lot of people that are moving to the Maitland district."
Ms Oldham and Mr Carter said rental costs were now so high that it was pricing low income earners - and pensioners - out of the market. A simple 2 bedroom granny flat is now $400 per week.
"There is not a lot of properties that are in the price bracket for them," Ms Oldham said.
"A couple of elderly people I've been working with for a couple of months are at the point of heartbreak because all they want is a granny flat and these days it's $400," Mr Carter said.
The situation in Maitland is not isolated. Across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie it is a similar story.
The vacancy rate in the Hunter Region and the Central Coast in February was just 0.6 per cent, according to SQM Research.
In Tamworth and the Blue Mountains it was 0.7 per cent.
Mr Carter said Sydneysiders moving to the region during the pandemic was part of the reason why the market was so tight.
"My opinion is that when people could work from home people from Sydney were thinking instead of paying $1000 a week for rent I can move to the Hunter region and pay $500 and get twice as big a house. That has put so much demand on the local rental market," he said.
Property manager Jessica O'Donoghue, from Ray White Maitland, has also seen applicants offering more than the weekly asking price.
"Family homes are definitely sought after in this area - a lot of people seem to have a family and a pet usually goes along and people working from home can have a pet now that they couldn't have when they were working in the office all the time. That has affected the size of the home," Ms O'Donoghue said.
"From a tenant side there is a lot of desperation out there trying to be the one that is selected."
Mr Carter can't see the market changing anytime soon.
He predicts prices won't rise any further though because tenants won't be able to afford it.
"You shouldn't be spending more than one third of your income on rent. For a combined $1500 salary you should only be paying $500 a week - if you spend any more that doesn't leave a lot left for groceries and school fees and petrol and car rego and new tyres," he said.
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