Two Mudgee real estate agents address the local housing crisis

Real estate agents have become the subject of blame for a portion of the Mudgee region's housing crisis, with many quick to point the finger in their direction.

With rental options few and far between to those with an average to low income in the area, the number of applicants on a single property has risen dramatically, pushing many to their wits end.

According to a pair of local agents, there are two catalysts behind the crisis - unmet social housing demand and a sharp rise in Airbnbs/short-stay accommodation.

"The fact that the responsibility of social housing has been shifted to the private sector is one of the biggest underlying problems," The Property Shop director and licensee, Andrew Palmer said.

"One of the major factors that has got to be realised is the number of people who are now using properties as Airbnbs. These Airbnbs were probably five years ago, standard rentals," Ray White Mudgee director, Trent Robertson said.

With landlords spoilt for choice due to multiple applications submitted for a single property, the risk factor has been eliminated with owners continually choosing the more 'secure' tenant.

"When you have a market like the way our market is at the moment, private investors have to pay more to buy a home so they are looking for and, to be frank, entitled to a reasonable return on the property," Mr Palmer said.

"When you couple that with a very, very tight rental market where we have six to ten applications per property, the landlord is going to choose the best application in their mind.

"You've got a couple, for example, who both have jobs, no pets and a very good rental history stacked against somebody who is unemployed, doesn't have as good a rental history and all those sorts of things, the landlord is likely to pick the person who is more secure."

"The demand is there where owners don't have to take the risk on someone. You have to think of it from an owner's perspective - what would you do?," Mr Robertson questioned.

With over 300 Airbnb listings currently offered across the Mid-Western Region, Mr Robertson believed these types of properties to instigate rental competitiveness, with such sites likely to have been offered in the rental market before being transformed into short-stay accommodation.

As investors continue to switch out long-term rentals for short-stay returns, the prices will continue to climb due to an increased demand - "It's market driven, not agent driven," according to Mr Robertson.

"The two-pronged thing is you get people coming from Sydney, they struggle to find accommodation for the weekend so they think 'I'll just buy a place and use it as an Airbnb because the demand is so strong'. That's where you're seeing the strain on the rental market," he added.

"The vast majority of investors are typical mum and dads who have one investment property. They have a mortgage they've got to pay to be able to do it, they've got jobs themselves, they're trying to get ahead and a lot of them are stretching to do it," Mr Palmer added.

With the onus of social housing placed on the private sector, according to Mr Palmer, it's time for "all levels of government" to address the homelessness crisis on a national scale.

"The underlying problem is limited resources and limited supply of social housing. There needs to be a considerate effort from all levels of government to come up with programs that are going to address homelessness quickly," Mr Palmer said.

"We're aware there are very limited resources in terms of social housing and there's not a lot out there for people and that just compounds a problem. To have a lady with five children couch surfing is not a situation that should be happening.

"The simple reality is that we [agents] don't own the houses, the people that take out mortgages and work hard to be able to buy a rental property are entitled to get a return, it's not their responsibility to provide social housing, as harsh as that sounds."

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