Queenslanders warned to brace for rent hikes as housing supply struggles to keep pace with demand

Queenslanders have been warned to brace for more rent hikes, with housing supply still struggling to keep pace with demand.

A new report has found that Queensland now has the highest number of suburbs facing extreme rental pain in the country. Western Australia leads the way.

"The lower socio-economic and household income areas are the first hit, and the contagion spreads from there," Suburbtrends founder and managing director Ken Lardner told 9News.

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"No suburb is immune from what's happening", he said.

"A lot of the supply issue is being faced, but we're looking at two to three years for a lot of this stock to come on the market."

Suburbtrends' Rental Pain Index measures the difficulty faced by renters across Australia.

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The May report found that Queensland had the second-most suburbs where renters face "extreme" difficulty finding rent.

That is calculated by comparing the rate of rent rises and income-to-rent ratios.

"We're really moving into the territory where it's severely unaffordable and that really doesn't leave much else", Lardner said.

The greater Brisbane suburbs rated as the "most-strained" include Caboolture, Caboolture South, Woodford and D'Aguilar, and Slacks Creek in Logan.

Clontarf, Taigum and Fitzgibbon made the list, alongside the western suburbs of Wacol and Riverview.

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Some experts predict the situation could decline further in the next 12 months, with the construction industry struggling to keep pace with growth.

"If the supply and demand issues continue this way where we just don't have enough houses for the people that are looking, then history predicts that it will continue to increase," Head of Client Services & Engagement at rental agency RE/MAX Revolution Stephanie Lelliott said.

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One Queensland renter, Elle, told 9News they managed to secure a room in a share house after seven months of couch surfing.

"I have been on seven different couches and one kitchen floor," Elle said.

"I'm just really excited to have all of my things in one place, to be able to lock my things away.

"I'm excited to have my mail come directly to me, it's just the things you don't think about."

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In the meantime, they had been storing their belongings under a friend's home in an unsecured garage.