Just over a month ago, it was almost impossible to find somewhere to live in the outback Northern Territory town of Katherine.
Housing affordability had plummeted, and landlords were doubling rents.
But the number of homes for rent has since soared to the highest rate in half a decade as residents leave in droves, creating obstacles to sustaining the local economy.
Property break-ins and crime have been singled out as a key reason for the rising vacancies.
"I have friends who have been broken into. I've been verbally attacked," resident Charlotte Ratza said.
"I do not get enough sleep when I am here because my dogs are barking all night because something is going on at the fence.
"If I lock the dogs inside the house, I'm scared someone is jumping the fence."
Ms Ratza had been living in an isolated and tiny remote community outside of Katherine for almost two years before moving to the bigger town — keen to enjoy a larger social scene — where she was eventually able to find a home.
Now she was eager to leave and had packed her belongings and three dogs to move.
"I just don't feel safe," Ms Ratza said.
Katherine Town Council Mayor Elizabeth Clark said signs that notable numbers of residents were leaving was "absolutely" of concern.
"I know people who have been broken into six times. One fella was broken into nine times," she said.
Last month, Katherine police commander Kylie Anderson said the crime statistics painted a bleak picture for Katherine but said trends were turning around.
Katherine vacancy rate climbs
Elders real estate principal Alison Ross said historically low vacancy rates of 0 to 1 per cent had blown out to almost 6 per cent since late last year.
"In early December, a lot of tenants were walking in and putting the keys on the front counter, saying, 'Look, we're out', even though their tenancy may be fixed into the new year," he said.
Ms Ross said a number of factors were behind Katherine's recent drop in rental demand. At the end of 2022, big projects and their contracts quietened down for the wet season and clusters of properties emptied out.
Yet she believed crime was the main driver.
"Significantly, we have seen in the last four to six weeks a lot of lease breaks … people are moving out of town because of the crime rate in Katherine," Ms Ross said.
Second downturn in five years
Katherine experienced a similar downturn more than five years ago when residents launched a successful class action against the federal government over contamination by a chemical associated with various cancers.
They argued their property values had plummeted. Some even said their houses were unsaleable.
But with regional towns becoming a popular living choice during the pandemic, and more than a billion dollars pouring into defence projects at the nearby RAAF Base Tindal, the housing market has become extremely tight.
"But this week we're at about 60, 65 properties available for rent," Ms Ross said.
She said the increasing vacancies and underlying issues were putting pressure on small businesses contending with staff shortages and the wreckage from break-ins.
"Tenants are calling us daily, having people jumping in their backyards, [saying] 'We don't feel safe. We want to move'," Ms Ross said.
"It's impacting our staff. They're coming to work, [and] a lot of them are questioning their longevity.
"Fortunately, in the small community of Katherine, everyone sticks behind each other."
A difficult decision to leave
It was not an easy decision to leave for Ms Ratza, who had been stirred by the pace of life and its close-knit community, but she feared the situation would escalate.
"There are so many nice opportunities in Katherine. It is so lovely to say 'Hi' to everyone on the street, because everyone knows everyone," she said.
"But in the end, when I spoke to my employer and said I need to get out of here, and they agreed, I was really relieved."
