Real estate agent accused of price gouging by hiking the rent on a home based solely on how many people had registered to inspect it
- Social media users blast greedy real estate agency for cashing in on rental crisis
- QLD rental property raised weekly rent by $25 citing ‘overwhelming demand’
- The state has seen rental prices rise by more than 10 per cent in the last year
A real estate agent has been slammed for hiking the asking price on a rental property based solely on how many people had registered for an inspection – saying it ‘indicates we may have priced the property incorrectly’.
In a post to Reddit, a user named ‘glittergiraffe’ shared an email from the real estate agent notifiying that the open home had been cancelled and the price scaled up.
The Queensland property was initially listed at $470 a week but has since been raised to $495 – an extra $100 per month – after more than a hundred people registered to attend the inspection.
The email read: ‘We have experienced an overwhelming demand for this property and have 100 groups booked for the inspection tomorrow at 12pm with many more requesting to attend’.
A real estate agent has employed a sneaky tactic hiking up the rent of a property set for an inspection when more than a hundred prospective tenants expressed an interest sending an email to those who were set to turn up to a house inspection (pictured)
The Queensland property was initially listed at $470 a week but has since been raised to $495 after more than a hundred people expressed an interest to attend an open home
‘The volume of interest indicates we may have priced the property incorrectly.
‘We therefore have to cancel the inspection tomorrow.
‘The new weekly rent is to be $495 per week. This will be reflected in the marketing of the property.’
Reddit users called the move ‘disgusting’ and said this is why the rental crisis is at such a tipping point.
‘Incorrectly priced.. “We accidentally almost gave someone a fair price, then we realised we could gouge someone instead. Soz for the error”,’ one person commented.
‘There should be some kind of law against this kind of price gouging. I’m a landlord and when I advertised my property I kept being asked why is it so cheap is it rental assisted,’ another wrote.
‘Outrageous! Pure scumbags, I can’t believe they’re allowed to do this,’ a third said.
It comes as new data from realestate.com revealed rent in Brisbane went up by more than 10 per cent for both houses and units in the last 12 months
New data from realestate.com revealed rent in Brisbane went up by more than 10 per cent for both houses and units in the past 12 months.
The increase in the 2022 calendar year was the largest recorded increase in the city’s history.
By comparison, Sydney and Melbourne only saw single digit increases despite having their own severe shortages of rental homes.
House rents in Brisbane surged by 11.6 per cent, with median rent sitting at $530 a week, while unit prices saw a 10 per cent rise, with median rent at $440 a week.
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