Tamworth property prices level out, but not everyone benefits

A new report from appraisal company PropTrack Australia says average rental prices in New England and North West fell 2.6 per cent over the September quarter, in stark contrast to an explosion of prices in Sydney.

"Rental growth is likely to continue in the major capital cities. The flatlining of regional rents over the past six months may point to softer rents for the regions in the coming months," PropTrack Director Economic Research Cameron Kusher said.

While rental prices fell in New England by much more than other areas in regional NSW, the report notes that prices are "still 2.8 per cent higher over the year".

McCulloch Agencies property manager Dominique Ritter said the trend she's seen in Tamworth lines up well with PropTrack's latest report on the region.

"We are still seeing rental prices higher than usual, but we're not seeing the insanely above-average prices," Ms Ritter said.

However, she also said looking at averages can be misleading, as most of the fall in price is coming from the middle of the pack, while prices at both the bottom end and top end remain higher than usual.

"There's definitely still demand in the market for the higher-end properties, your four-bedroom plus places," Ms Ritter said.

"It's that middle section that we're finding harder to fill. Anything under $300 or even $400 will go straight away, but anything between $400 and $500, which is an average kind of house, are getting harder to lease."

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Meanwhile, on the buying side of the market, Tamworth and New England home prices refuse to come down, posting a slight increase in PropTrack's Home Price Index in September as the city's growth continues to attract investment, economic expansion, and large numbers of new residents.

The appraisal company said it's also unlikely prices will come down anytime soon unless something is done to boost housing supply.

"Looking ahead, interest rates have likely peaked and population growth is rebounding strongly. Together with a shortage of new home builds, prices are expected to rise," PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said.

Locally, Ms Ritter said interest rates have made it hard to be the in-between for landlords feeling mortgage pain and renters who are increasingly becoming less able to pay for housing.

"We have worked very closely with our landlords and tenants to secure tenancies again because we know that times are tough," she said.

"With the interest rates going up we've had to negotiate a lot of rent increases ... the decision to put those rates on hold has been a positive for our industry."

She said she's also encouraging landowners to mitigate rent increases whenever possible because scaring off a good tenant can be costly, as average rental prices start to fall.

"For properties that are coming on new to the market we're getting less than what we would've done three to six months ago," Ms Ritter said.

"Three months ago we had people fighting over houses, but now we are very much jumping on good-quality tenants as soon as we get that enquiry."

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