Surge in demand for serviced apartments

He has seen a surge in demand from people moving closer to town, people coming from overseas and also home owners taking the opportunity in the current market to renovate their properties and renting short-term.

"People have tradespeople knocking on their doors wanting work. Many people in this market are refurbishing and renovating and moving into serviced apartments temporarily," Graham says.

"Lots of people are [also] moving into the city from the suburbs, wanting to be closer to town and they want to rent short-term before they buy something."

He says there are also lots of people returning from overseas wanting short-term accommodation for six months or a bit longer.

Those people are evaluating the market to make sure they've got job security before they buy.

However, smaller rentals are a different story, Graham says.

Severely affected by the downturn in the travel market because of the recession, hotels are competing fiercely with smaller serviced rentals such as studios and one-bedroom apartments.

"When you can stay in a hotel for $75 a night, you get people putting off the rental decision. We're in direct competition for the five-night or week stays. Those with facilities like pools and gyms, better layouts and views are okay. But we're having to meet the price perceptions of consumers in that market."