Rental prices: Which suburbs are the most affordable?

The Australian rental market appears to be heating up once again, with the latest data from Cotality indicating that price growth is picking up.

That will come as disappointing news to renters who, after a lull in growth at the end of 2024, may have been hoping for an extended reprieve after a few years of sizeable increases in the cost of renting.

Cotality's latest quarterly data reveals that national rental prices rose by 0.8% over the three months to September and 4.3% over the year.

While that quarterly growth figure was actually down, Cotality notes that this was largely due to seasonal factors. But when adjusted for seasonality, it was the largest quarterly rise since June 2024.

Kaytlin Ezzy, an economist at Cotality, says that growth in rental prices is being driven, in part, by a shortfall in the number of homes that are available to rent.

"Ongoing scarcity in 'for rent' listings, coupled with continued strength in rental demand has pushed the national vacancy rate to a record low of 1.47%- less than half the pre-COVID decade average of 3.3%.

"Limited supply continues to be a major catalyst in rising rents, with the number of rental listings tracking approximately 25% below the previous five-year average nationally for this time of year.

"Supply is particularly tight in the unit sector, especially in Sydney, which recorded both a new record low vacancy rate across its unit sector and broader dwelling rental market in September."

Where are rents rising fastest?

Australia's smaller capital cities led the way on growth, with rental prices in Darwin rising 7.6% over the last 12 months and prices in Hobart rising 6.2%.

This, Cotality notes, is a shift from the post-pandemic trend which had seen growth rates in both markets well behind that of the larger capitals.

The cost of renting a home in Brisbane and Perth also ticked up, with both cities recording increases of 5.6% over the past year.

However, the rate of growth in regional areas outpaced most capitals in the 12 months to September. This, Ezzy explains, has reduced the rental affordability gap between metro and regional Australia.

"With the regions outperforming the capitals through the second half of 2024 and into 2025 the affordability advantage offered by regional rental markets has reduced from $123 in May 2024, to $111 in September."

Cheapest suburbs in each capital city to rent in

With the median weekly rent being paid across the capital cities now more than $700 per week, there's no question that renting is getting more and more expensive.

However, the difference between the most and least affordable suburbs in each of the major cities is also sizeable.

In Sydney, for instance, the median rent charged for a home in Vaucluse is $2148 per week compared to $550 per week for a home in Shalvey.

So, which are the most affordable pockets to rent in? Here are the five cheapest suburbs in each city, according to Cotality.

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