When I look at why some areas have remained with an unchanging rent over a period of time, two over riding factors appear.

The property is already achieving a fantastic rental rate, and therefore, although there has not been an Increase, the property is still performing well compared to others available in the market. Coupled with high supply in these areas, due to new stock being completed, increases were simply not achievable without experiencing vacancies. A key example of this is a recently renewed townhouse in Enoggera. I leased this property at the start of the year for $495.00, which at the time achieved a $10.00 increase for our client. The property recently came up for lease again at the end of July. I investigated the potential rent, through the comparison of other available properties online at the time. Surprisingly, there was the townhouse next door available for $480.00. As we were already achieving more than this, I made the decision to use a premium pricing tactic and advertised the property for $510.00 initially. This made tenants ask the questions 'what else has that one got to offer?' After a slow initial start, we came back to $495.00, what we were currently achieving and secured a tenant with no vacancy. For the next 4 weeks 3 other townhouses came online in the same complex, along with the initial competing property. These agents unfortunately had to drop to $430.00 and after 5 weeks, secured tenants for their properties. No, we did not achieve an increase! But; we achieved $495.00 with no vacancy instead of $430.00 with a minimum 4 weeks vacancy.

But don't just take my word for it. I encourage you to jump online, and compare the rates you are achieving in comparison to others.
Brisbane floods. Yes although almost a year ago, prospective tenants are still taking into consideration the effect of the Brisbane floods and considering this when looking at potential places to live. I have found that with many refurbishments taking place and with many owners absence of insurance, a subsequent loss of income has occurred for some considerable time. I find that these owners are now pricing their properties below market rental, to secure a tenant promptly. Although they believe it is a clever tactic, once a few jump on board, it affects the entire rental market for that area even for those properties not flood affected.

Saint Lucia is a key example. Prior to the floods, a two bedroom one bathroom unit on the water was achieving $480pw. I had to drop this property back to $450pw to secure a tenant, and minimise the vacancy, as asking $480 was simply not competitive. Anxious landlords and agents whom I consider to be incompetent began to list two bedroom two bathroom units in St Lucia from $380 pw making my life even more difficult. At the end of the day, I did decrease the rent $30pw however, only signed the tenant up for a short term lease (5 months) which will allow us to implement an increase. This is still a far better scenario! $450pw for 2 bedroom 1 bathroom, instead of asking $380pw for 2 bedroom 2 bathroom.

Finally, from a personal experience, prior to being a Wise Client myself, my investment was only achieving $380 per week. Although I knew this was under market, at renewal time my previous agent convinced me to accept $385.00 yes $5.00 increase. Upon becoming apart of the Wise team, it was highlighted to me that my returns could be significantly greater. I trusted Wise; they achieved $415.00pw at renewal time, $30.00 increase not $5.00, and still achieved this without vacancy.

Suburb	Property Type	Previous Rent	The Wise Way	Change	$ per week
Teneriffe	House	600	800	25%	$200
Teneriffe	Townhouse	480	550	12.73%	$70
Teneriffe	Unit	390	495	21.21%	$105
New Farm	Unit	370	420	11.90%	$50
New Farm	Unit	420	495	15.15%	$75
Paddington	House	640	710	9.86%	$70
Annerley	Townhouse	460	495	7.07%	$35
Annerley	Townhouse	495	530	6.60%	$35
Spring Hill	Unit	490	540	9.26%	$50
Spring Hill	Unit	400	530	24.53%	$130
Enoggera	Townhouse	430	495	13.13%	$65
Annerley	Unit	385	430	10.47%	$45
Teneriffe	Unit	430	485	11.34%	$55
Newstead	Unit	500	585	14.53%	$85
Gaythorne	Townhouse	470	485	3.09%	$15
Alderley	Unit	380	430	11.63%	$50
Kedron	Duplex	395	490	19.39%	$95
Chermside	Townhouse	390	440	11.36%	$50
Zillmere	Unit	330	365	9.59%	$35
Wooloongabba	Unit	160	230	30.43%	$70
Newmarket	Townhouse	365	440	17.05%	$75
Kelvin Grove	House	460	510	9.80%	$50
Stafford	House	380	440	13.64%	$60
Everton Park	House	395	475	16.84%	$80
Everton Park	Townhouse	410	445	7.87%	$35
Brisbane City	Unit	590	650	9.23%	$60
Taringa	Unit	360	390	7.69%	$30
Toowong	Townhouse	365	400	8.75%	$35
Milton	Unit	320	360	11.11%	$40
Auchenflower	Unit	245	280	12.50%	$35
Bardon	House	495	565	12.39%	$70
Ashgrove	House	535	595	10.08%	$60