It's been a buyers market for so long that two real estate agents say Inverell's property stock is running dry - and it's hitting renters the hardest.
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Low listing volumes have catapulted housing values to new heights, not just in the Shire but right across the country.
That's combined with low mortgage rates and a quickening economic recovery stimulating more interest from buyers.
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Nutrien Harcourts' realtor and branch manager Carl Hurford said they've got eight listings for sale.
They would normally have anywhere from 20 to 25.
"We deliberately carry a lot less than other players in town, but there is not enough supply to meet the demand, and that is probably true of both sales and rentals, rural as well residential," Mr Hurford told the Times.
Robyn Fox, principal for First National Real Estate Inverell, said houses were selling very well in all price ranges, with buyers waiting in the wings.
She said normally people would negotiate a house price down, but they are taking it at its listed price due to the tough competition.
"We have to see a surge in prices because such is the demand for housing," she said.
At the end of March, the CoreLogic national home value index increased a further 2.8 per cent, placing values 5.6 per cent above the previous market peak in October 2017.
Inverell properties are spending less days on the market, and while prices are strong and currently rising, Mr Hurford said that may start to "cool" off soon.
"The guys I talk to in Sydney are reporting reduced clearing rates in the last three weeks, and they feel like its starting to cool a bit - and the regional markets tend to follow metro markets," he said.
But renters at the moment are the ones in the biggest pinch from the movements in the Inverell market.
"We have had no new rentals in 10 days - except for one in Warialda," Ms Fox explained.
"I do worry about our short supply - driving that is that houses are not being bought as investments, but rather from the first home buyers, which is pushing renters out," she said.
Investors backed off during the pandemic, both agents explained, but they are dabbling again which may lead to the opening up of more properties.
"During the COVID restrictions, a lot of the investors went quiet, and we were mainly getting people upgrading and building because of the government grants, and also the tree-changers," Mr Hurford said.
"Since those restrictions have lifted, the investors have started to come back as well, you would hope it would help [the rental availability]."
Ms Fox agrees, however even if new land is developed, like that at the top of Vernon Street, it will take at least nine to 12 months for that to ease the market, with builders maxed out with work.
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