A dramatic oversupply of rental properties across several Geelong suburbs is seeing advertised rents on homes drop by as much as $50 a week as landlords seek to entice tenants.
A rush of interstate investors buying in Geelong’s growth corridors has resulted in the glut of new homes hitting the rental market.
The new supply is exceeding the level of demand for rentals in the urban fringe suburbs, including Armstrong Creek, Mount Duneed, Charlemont and Lara.
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Jellis Craig Geelong director Renee Reynolds said the growth corridor markets were struggling with the oversupply.
“There’s a lot of properties on the market, just not as many people looking,” Ms Reynolds said.
“It’s very price sensitive to lease them.”
The story in the growth corridors differs from the rest of Geelong, where a Victorian government report revealed an overall rise in rents, as new rental listings fall.
Jellis Craig Geelong Property Management director Renee Reynolds.
The government quietly dropped the June quarter Rental Report , along with two more already months overdue, on the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing website days before going in to caretaker mode.
Rental listings data from realestate.com.au shows 172 homes up advertised for lease across Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Mount Duneed this week, with 91 on the market at Lara.
Listings in the growth corridors are significantly higher than the city’s established suburbs, with 62 listed in both Corio and Norlane, 51 in Highton and 59 across Belmont, Grovedale and Marshall combined.
“They’re all new homes,” Ms Reynolds said.
The four-bedroom house at 24 Scoparia St, Charlemont, is advertised to rent for $570 a week.
“A lot of investors have bought out there, but they’re not from Victoria. I guess interstate investors. A lot of the buyers’ agents are selling those houses, which has caused some really heavy rent reductions.
“Some of them we are seeing, from what they were leased for 12, 18 months ago, are $50 less.
“Take that supply and put it in to Belmont or Highton and that all gets snapped up,” she said.
The Rental Report revealed 27,638 active bonds for rental properties across the City of Greater Geelong.
The 1.8 per cent growth in the pool of rental homes was below the 2 per cent average over the past 10 years amid a 5.6 per cent annual drop in new lettings across the region in the three months to June.
Affordable new lettings across regional Victoria. Source: June 2026 Rental Report, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
That can be attributed to an increasing landlord exodus – people who are selling up after being hit with successive interest rate hikes, on top of higher land tax bills and rising compliance costs.
Harcourts North Geelong director Helena Fantela said the outflux of owners had accelerated over the past six months because they couldn’t afford to maintain the investments financially, along with the taxes – the land tax, compliance costs – and now interest rates’ fifth rise.
“That’s also compounded with the legislative changes that have happened and are going to happen next year,” Ms Fantela said.
“They’re just feeling overwhelmed, they’re feeling stressed, and they’re just saying it’s not worth it.”
Harcourt, North Geelong agent Helena Fantela
Ms Reynolds said there was still lots of pain for mum and dad investors in the market.
“And now with more minimum standards coming in March next year, the figures don’t stack up any more for a lot of the smaller investors,” she said.
Fewer established homes were being added to the rental pool, contrasting the rising number of new dwellings.
Ms Fantela said established homes typically made up a greater proportion of rental properties, and the trend could add to upward pressure on rents over time.
The four-bedroom house at 59 Sunlight Curcuit, Lara, is advertised to rent for $550 a week.
But more tenants were remaining in place for longer as advertised rents increase around them.
Ms Reynolds said the trend is pushing a typical rental period beyond 18 months to about two and a half years.
“The cost of moving these days versus (the cost of rent of) what they’re going to move in to, we’re finding there’s less movement within the currently tenanted properties.”
Ms Reynolds said rental demand remained stronger across the city’s inner city suburbs, with homes rented for more than $800 a week being snapped up as more professionals and executives moved to Geelong.
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