Homes in the New England region are being snapped up by flooded out Northern Rivers residents needing to escape the heartbreak of destruction.
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With major infrastructure projects continuing across the region, coupled with exciting new developments in the works, agents predict the demand-outweighing-supply trend will continue for some time.
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While ideal for sellers looking to cash in on increasing home values and short - if any - time on the market, renters are coping the brunt, with fears increasing rental prices may push some into homelessness.
The demand for Tenterfield homes is currently "rising", according to Alford and Duff's First National's Steve Alford.
"A lot of the demand now is flood-related, as people are moving out of the Northern Rivers to up here," Mr Alford explained.
"They no longer want to go through the floods - it's traumatised them severely."
That wave of flooded-out buyers is running neck-and-neck with local residents looking for a change-up in town.
Matthew Velcich from Country Wide Property said rather than investor activity in Glen Innes, the competition is split between locals and this new demographic escaping flood-prone areas.
"There are not many investors, and I'd say half (of those buying) are locals and half are from the coast," Mr Velcich explained.
"We've had a lot more phone calls from Lismore in the last few weeks. It's a sad situation."
With builders in demand, the cost of material rising, ready-to-go homes are the hot ticket in Tenterfield. Mr Alford said there is not enough blocks of land for the buyer demand.
"Trying to find a builder, plus the costs of building materials have gone up so much, we're in a real squeeze at the moment," he said.
"That's why these existing homes... are so desirable."
The cost of rent has gone up and will continue to rise across the region, with fears some will be priced out of the market.
Mr Alford is seeing the same in Tenterfield, and with work to begin on the new bypass in December bringing in workers for the next several years, he said the demand for rentals will sky-rocket.
While not against a steady increase in rent prices, he's worried the surging cost will outprice those already facing challenging financial circumstances.
"I'm dead against the greed of the world... I don't want to have people living on the streets or living in cars."
Despite talk of the banks tightening their lending belts and increasing interest rates, agents are not seeing this as a severe handicap for sellers.
Now is the time to buy for those seeking to avoid that inevitable increase, Mr Alford stated.
"We've got some catch up time now. You can still buy here for $400,000, but in Sydney you can't get anything under $900,000. That's a big price differential," he said.