Wollongong real estate agents say the region's housing crisis is unlike anything they ever have seen, with every rental property routinely attracting over 100 prospective tenants.
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First National Wollongong property manager Sophie Wellard said she received up to 120 online enquiries for a single property and almost all who enquired would show up for viewings, especially if it was a family home.
"It's more than I have personally ever seen," she said.
She said the biggest demographic was young people trying to move out of home, followed by families and single parents.
"I've never seen it like this in over 20 years in this industry, never," First National principal Leanne Brailey said.
She said the last three months especially had been emotional, seeing the difficulties people were facing getting and keeping a roof over their heads.
"It's sad, you build a relationship with tenants for so many years," Miss Wellard added.
In one recent case, Mrs Brailey said a "beautiful" family, who were well-regarded tenants on the books for 10 years, had to move out of their house because the new owners had bought it as a home for their own growing family.
But there was nowhere for the family to go and it took more than 40 rental applications for properties in the Illawarra and even further afield to find them somewhere to live.
Mrs Brailey said that while there could be a lot of vitriol directed at landlords amidst the crisis, most were everyday people who put all the cost of the rent - and in some cases, more - back into the mortgage.
Miss Wellard said a lot of her landlords were tenants themselves in other cities or states.
The issue, the agents said, simply came down to there being too few homes available to meet demand.
"We can't give what we don't have," Miss Wellard said.
Mrs Brailey said a mismatch between the properties available and the make-up of the households in need of them was one of the biggest issues.
"Housing to house a family of five or bigger is almost impossible," she said.
These larger properties were expensive so investors were less likely to purchase them as rentals, Mrs Brailey said, and the rental yield was often not viable.
She said there needed to be more housing stock built and a faster process for approvals.
"Affordable housing is what we need," she added.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
