Aussie cities where rents are up to $17k a year higher than in 2020
The PropTrack data laid just how much of a struggle it has been for tenants to keep up, with nationwide rents rising by $10,920 annually since June 2020. In the capitals, rents rose by $11,180 a year on average.
Meanwhile, the average Aussie's pay has only gone up by about $3,000 in that time, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
And that's full-time earnings, not taking into account the wide range of people working part-time and those who are unemployed.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said she was surprised by the degree of rent growth since 2020.
'What really jumps out is the magnitude of the increases we're seeing and how much of people's incomes are being spent just on the cost of rent,' she said.
Ms Flaherty said the rental crisis came down to the central issue of low housing supply and high demand for rental properties.
'There's a whole multitude of factors for why demand for rental properties has increased,' she said.
'Obviously population growth is a massive factor.
'But another factor is that it's taking longer and longer to save a deposit to buy your first home, which means people are being trapped in the rental market longer.'
Perth experienced the highest annual rent growth since 2020, with renters forking out an extra $16,640 a year.
REIWA President Suzanne Brown said the major imbalance between supply and demand in WA saw the vacancy rate fall to record lows and put 'strong upward pressure on prices.'
'This has been very challenging for tenants,' Ms Brown said.
'We have seen some self-moderation of demand as tenants seek to cope with rising prices.
'This includes an increase in tenant household sizes to share the cost burden of renting, tenants electing to buy where possible and people simply choosing to stay in the family home longer or moving back in with family to avoid the rental market.'
Mr Brown said that even though the WA rental market was improving, state and federal policymakers 'could not afford to be complacent' when it comes to rental reform.
Greater Sydney and Brisbane experienced the second highest growth for capital cities, with rents increasing by $13,000 a year since 2020.
Meanwhile, rents in Melbourne grew by $8,580 a year, almost half that of those in Perth.
Ms Flaherty attributes this imbalance to Melbourne's higher housing supply and density pre-Covid, which allowed Victoria's capital to accommodate for post-pandemic population growth.
'This is incredible evidence on the impact that higher supply has,' she said.
'One of the reasons why rent growth and home price growth has been slower is because Greater Melbourne has been relatively better than the other capitals at building new homes.'
Ms Flaherty said it would be some wait before rent figures started to slow around the country.
'Our expectation is that it's going to fall short in the coming years in most markets,' she said.
'We don't think that the pace of rent growth we saw over 2022-2023 is going to be repeated, however it's very unlikely we're going to see rents move backwards as a whole.
'Having said that, we are seeing differences in different markets.'
ANNUAL RISE IN MEDIAN ADVERTISED RENTS (JUNE 2020-JUNE 2025)
Australia $10,920
Combined capital markets $11,180
Combined regional markets $10,140
Greater Perth $16,640
Regional WA $15,600
Regional QLD $13,520
Greater Brisbane $13,000
Greater Sydney $13,000
Greater Darwin $12,480
Greater Adelaide $11,700
Regional NSW $9,880
Greater Melbourne $8,580
Regional SA $8,320
Regional VIC $7,280
Greater Hobart $6,500
Regional TAS $6,240
Greater Canberra $5,720
Regional NT $3,276
Source: PropTrack.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
7 minutes ago
- ABC News
Star Entertainment misses deadline to offload stake in Brisbane's Queen's Wharf
Star Entertainment has missed the deadline to offload its stake in the Queen's Wharf project attached to its Brisbane casino and will owe roughly $41 million to overseas investors. In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday morning, Star Entertainment said it had been "unable to reach an agreement" with its joint venture partners Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium International Limited. The Star statement said it had proposed an extension of the talks to August 6, but that was not accepted by the Hong Kong-based joint venture partners. The heads of agreement was terminated as a result, and Star will retain its 50 per cent equity in Destination Brisbane Consortium (DBC) and Destination Gold Coast Consortium, as well as the Treasury hotel in Brisbane. It means the casino company will have to pay their partners $10 million in proceeds from the DBC venture on top of the estimated $31 million for the payments made by the joint venture partners for their DBC equity.
ABC News
7 minutes ago
- ABC News
Seawater desalination plant to shore up water supplies in Exmouth
A remote West Australian town is set to host one of the state's first regional seawater desalination plants, as thousands of visitors, a growing US military presence and a warming climate increase pressure on local supplies. It follows a lengthy investigation by the state's Water Corporation of the near-exhausted drinking water source in Exmouth, 1,230 kilometres north of Perth. About 3,000 residents are currently supplied with water by 34 production bores that are dependent on heavy rainfall to recharge local aquifers. The state-run utility forecasts Exmouth will need an additional 1.5 billion litres each year by 2060, while climate modelling shows the region is likely to grow drier. The plan has been welcomed by local government and industry groups, who are calling for a quicker turnaround to support the town's growth. The Water Corporation expects to complete the desalination plant in stages by 2030, pending environmental approval. It found additional groundwater sources south of Exmouth were insufficient to meet long-term demand and put cultural sites in the Cape Range National Park at risk. "That's why desalination is the right choice," said Evan Hambleton, general manager of assets, planning and delivery. Exmouth's population more than doubles during the peak winter months, with an average of 150,000 tourists passing through the town annually. Shire President Matthew Niikkula said the seasonal influx meant Exmouth's drinking water scheme was often operating close to capacity. "We're seeing numbers come through Exmouth like we've never seen before," he said. "It's put our infrastructure at critical bursting point for a long time." He argued that the Water Corporation should commit to a shorter time frame to deliver the project. "It is an urgent need. [The] council has been heavily advocating to government that this needs to be a one to three-year solution, not a three to five-year solution," Cr Niikkula said. While the technology has played a critical role in securing Perth's water supply, large-scale seawater desalination is a relatively new concept in regional WA. The process has been used on a smaller scale to secure farm water supplies and restore salt-damaged land. But a large-scale plant proposed for Albany prompted public outcry and was scrapped earlier this year. Another plant is under construction in Onslow, four hours north of Exmouth. Exmouth Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Steve Riley welcomed the decision, which he believed primed Exmouth for expansion and sewage upgrades. "There's no housing up and down the whole coastline," he said. "We literally can't build any more houses because we're out of water. "This [desalination plant] opens up that freedom a little bit to take those steps." Cr Niikkula said the desalination plant was part of a suite of technologies being rolled out in Exmouth to secure its future. The WA electricity utility Horizon Power expects to complete three-quarters of a 9.6-megawatt solar farm by mid-August. It aims to supply up to 80 per cent of Exmouth's electricity by next year. The burgeoning infrastructure will support a greater military presence in Exmouth, with the United States flagging its interest in the RAAF's nearby Learmonth base. The town's secretive Harold E Holt naval communication base, jointly run by Australian and US forces, began its first major upgrade since 1967 in March. Cr Niikkula, who also chairs the North-West Defence Alliance lobby group, said water shortages in Exmouth directly threatened national security. "We just all need to make sure that we're working together to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to be able to handle whatever comes along," he said. Hanging in the balance with these strategic interests, however, are serious environmental concerns. The Water Corporation said it had identified three potential sites for the desalination plant to the north, centre, and south of the town. Mr Hambleton told the ABC at least a year of further study would be undertaken to decide where to lay piping for seawater intake and outfalls. The facility's design will mirror what is under construction in Onslow, with water about twice as saline as normal seawater pumped back out to the ocean. "Within 30 or 50 metres of where we put the seawater back … you couldn't tell the difference between what is just regular seawater and what is the brine area."
The Australian
32 minutes ago
- The Australian
Is buying property in a better school zone a good investment?
Many property investors believe houses located within in top school zones offer sterling investment opportunities. It's a bit of an insider's secret. But while it may have been true a decade ago, this year it's far from it. The numbers don't add up any longer. Even for homeowners, it's a debatable now whether buying inside the catchment area of a top school makes sense financially. The Cotality research group has done a deep dive on the issue and discovered the sobering truth about school catchments areas. They are now so expensive that investors would make more money beyond the confines of the school zone. Speaking to The Australian's The Money Puzzle podcast, Cotality Australia research head Eliza Owen said most leading school catchment areas carry a premium. They are dearer than similar suburbs nearby. As a result, residential properties inside these districts are actually weaker performers than the broader market because they have already been priced so high. 'When we looked at the capital growth trend long term it turned out to be weaker,' Owen told The Money Puzzle. 'We looked at a 15-year period, and for six of the nine areas that we analysed, we found that the 15-year capital growth was lower than outside the catchments. 'We don't really know why exactly, but we think it could be linked to an affordability issue. These areas inside catchments (had lower capital growth). We think that because they're just inherently higher, it's harder for them to accrue more value over time.' However, the value proposition offered by school catchment zones, even with their more expensive prices, may be worth it for homeowners wanting top schools as opposed to investors wanting top returns. To make the case add up for homeowners paying the premium embedded in catchment zones, Cotality subtracted the costs of school fees. Turns out, it's a close-run thing. According to a Cotality report: 'For young families juggling tough decisions around housing and education, paying the premium could be worthwhile.' The new report concentrated on top schools in Sydney and Melbourne and noted six of the nine regions analysed had a premium of at least $100,000 in the catchment area compared to those outside of the catchment. Unlike independent schools' fees, which generally rise over time, the costs of a mortgage in a top school catchment is likely to go down in real terms over time due to inflation. Industry figures suggest that fee increases at top private schools in 2025 ranged between 5 per cent and 10 per cent: that's two to four times the inflation rate. Meanwhile, Futurity Invest Australia has previously estimated the national average expenditure of 13 years of private schooling at $349,000, with higher costs in Sydney, where top schools have reported fees of more than $46,000 a year. There are also issues outside the control of the investor or homeowner. Schools have the right to change their catchment zone borders at any time. So, if capital growth is weaker in school zones than those beyond the catchment area, that is, like-for-like properties are at least $100,000 higher, what's the option for investors? Owen says for all buyers it really comes down to your individual cost analysis, which is going to include your education plans. 'If you are looking at this from an investment perspective, you might be better off looking at other amenities such as new infrastructure that might be going into an area, so you can capture the value before it's established,' Owen says. Read related topics: House PricesWealth Property Investing While some of his friends have written off the idea of ever owning a home, Joey Croke has sacrificed holidays, a flash car and parties to build an extensive property portfolio. Property Investing Successful property investors know the tips and traps around building serious wealth. Here is why it is wise to listen to them.
