Tenants are paying more than ever to rent property with only one capital city seeing weekly rents fall back over the past 12 months – and even then, there’s a catch.
Realestate.com.au’s latest Market Insight revealed national rental prices hit a new record high in the December quarter, with tenants now forking out an extra $1,560 on average compared to last year.
Nationally, the average rental place now costs $650 a week, an increase of 4.8% in 12 months.
Sydney remains the most expensive city for renters, with an average price of $760 per week.
Melbourne was the second cheapest capital to rent in, after only Hobart. Compared to Melbourne, Sydney employers earn an extra $9,620 a year, on average.
Cost of renting a large city property:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | YOY change |
| in Sydney | $760 | 1.3% | 4.1% |
| in Melbourne | $575 | 0.9% | 2.7% |
| Brisbane | $670 | 3.1% | 6.3% |
| Adelaide | $600 | 0.0% | 3.4% |
| Perth | $700 | 1.4% | 7.7% |
| Hobart | $573 | 4.2% | 9.1% |
| Darwin | $650 | 0.0% | 8.3% |
| ACT | $630 | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| Big cities | $650 | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| Nationally | $650 | 1.6% | 4.8% |
Although the pace of growth nationally has slowed compared to last year, realestate.com.au senior economist Anne Flaherty said cost remained a major challenge for many, with the average annual rent sitting at $11,960 compared to five years ago.
“The slowdown in growth is really good news for employers, and I think one of the factors that has contributed is the increase in investor activity that we’ve seen over the last 12 months,” Ms Flaherty said.
“From a renter’s perspective, more investors tend to add to the supply of rental properties, which can help reduce the rate of rent growth. The flip side, of course, is that if we see more investor activity, that increases demand in the overall market as well, which can contribute to higher house prices.”
Capital city rental costs:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | THAT is the change |
| in Sydney | $800 | 0.6% | 3.2% |
| in Melbourne | $575 | 0.9% | -0.9% |
| Brisbane | $690 | 2.2% | 6.2% |
| Adelaide | $630 | 1.6% | 5.0% |
| Perth | $720 | 2.9% | 6.7% |
| Hobart | $600 | 0.8% | 7.1% |
| Darwin | $720 | 0.0% | 5.9% |
| ACT | $720 | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| Big cities | $670 | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Nationally | $650 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
Cost of renting a large city unit:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | YOY change |
| in Sydney | $750 | 0.7% | 7.1% |
| in Melbourne | $575 | 0.0% | 4.5% |
| Brisbane | $650 | 4.0% | 8.3% |
| Adelaide | $550 | 2.8% | 6.8% |
| Perth | $670 | 3.1% | 7.2% |
| Hobart | $510 | 2.0% | 5.2% |
| Darwin | $600 | 1.7% | 9.1% |
| ACT | $600 | 3.4% | 3.4% |
| Big cities | $650 | 0.0% | 4.8% |
| Nationally | $640 | 1.6% | 6.7% |
He said Australia’s population growth rate, while still in line with historical averages, had declined from recent peaks.
Rent growth is expected to continue to moderate through 2026, he said, although vacancy rates remain low and population growth will fuel demand for more rentals.
Melbourne is on track to become the most affordable capital city
Melbourne ($575) and Hobart ($573) remain the country’s two most affordable capital cities, although strong growth in the Tasmanian capital means it is on course to overtake Melbourne.
Melbourne is the only market to see rents rebound in any type of property. In homes, rents fell 0.9% to an average of $575 per week, although unit rentals rose 4.5% over the year.
Melbourne was the only market to see rental prices fall, with rents falling by 0.9% in the 12 months to the December 2025 quarter. Image: Getty
Ms. Flaherty said there are nuances; rents rose in Melbourne’s popular suburbs last year, while declines were more common in outer suburbs with lots of older houses.
“If you look at housing alone, the areas where housing has seen the strongest employment growth in Melbourne are the inner suburbs,” he said.
“We actually saw 5% rental growth in the inner east, which is the most exclusive pocket of Melbourne, and then the outer east, 4.8% growth. That, again, is an attractive area.”
The areas with the weakest rents are the northeast, northwest and west of the city, he said.
Regional Victoria has seen stronger rates of rental growth than the capital, a theme Ms Flaherty said was playing out across the country due to factors such as lack of demand.
“In regional markets where we’ve seen good intrastate migration away from major cities, like Greater Melbourne to regional Victoria, that’s increased demand, but the rate at which new homes are being built, the level of investor activity in the regions has not been as strong as in the capital itself,” he said.
“So I think that’s why we’re still seeing regional markets doing so well.”
District rental costs:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | THAT is the change |
| The rest of NSW | $600 | 1.7% | 5.3% |
| Life of Vic | $490 | 2.1% | 6.5% |
| Qld relaxation | $670 | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Rest of SA | $430 | 2.4% | 7.5% |
| WA relaxation | $650 | 0.0% | 4.8% |
| Rest of Tas | $480 | 4.3% | 6.7% |
| Rest of the NT | $560 | 7.7% | 9.8% |
| District Areas | $590 | 1.7% | 7.3% |
| Nationally | $650 | 1.6% | 4.8% |
The report revealed rental growth in many regional areas outpaced their capital city counterparts quarter-on-quarter, with regional NT (+9.8%), South Australia (+7.5%), and Tasmania (+6.7%) leading the way.
Property manager and managing director of This Space Real Estate, Naaman Fraser, said wages are not keeping up with the pace of rental growth in the Launceston region of Tasmania.
“We are definitely short of stock,” he told realestate.com.au. “It’s not unusual to see between 20 and 40 applications in many places.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This three bedroom home in South Launceston is available to rent for $560 per week. Photo: realestate.com.au
“But I think the biggest problem is affordability. There is a huge gap between household incomes and rental prices.
“Let’s say we see 40 applications for a rental property, which is a normal average for us, usually about 35 of them do not reach the purchase of the property.
“And we’re seeing a lot of house or share situations that are very common.”
Cost of renting a county house:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | THAT is the change |
| The rest of NSW | $630 | 2.4% | 5.0% |
| Life of Vic | $500 | 0.0% | 4.2% |
| Qld relaxation | $680 | 0.7% | 4.6% |
| Rest of SA | $450 | 2.3% | 7.1% |
| WA relaxation | $670 | 3.1% | 6.3% |
| Rest of Tas | $650 | 8.3% | 14.0% |
| Rest of the NT | $490 | 3.2% | 8.9% |
| District Areas | $600 | 1.7% | 5.3% |
| Nationally | $650 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
District unit rental costs:
| The district | Average rent | Exchange shares QoQ | THAT is the change |
| The rest of NSW | $530 | 1.9% | 6.0% |
| Life of Vic | $410 | 2.5% | 3.8% |
| Qld relaxation | $650 | 0.0% | 8.3% |
| Rest of SA | $330 | 3.1% | 10.0% |
| WA relaxation | $635 | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| Rest of Tas | $420 | 2.4% | 2.4% |
| Rest of the NT | $480 | 14.3% | 14.8% |
| District Areas | $550 | 0.0% | 10.0% |
| Nationally | $640 | 1.6% | 6.7% |
Median asking rents in Launceston and Tasmania’s north-east region fell by 11.1% last year.
Cities where taxes have increased
Of all the major cities, Hobart recorded the strongest quarter-on-year rent growth, up 4.2% and 9.1% respectively.
Darwin (+8.3%), Perth (+7.7%), Brisbane (+6.3%) and Sydney (+4.1%) completed the top five.
Property prices and rental prices in Darwin have risen significantly over the past 12 months. Image: Getty
Property prices in the NT capital rose sharply last year, driven by investors looking for cheap properties with high rental returns.
“In the last 12 months the number of new loans to investors has more than doubled compared to before,” said Ms. Flaherty.
“Investors are not the only active buyers in Darwin, new loans to first home buyers increased by 46% in the NT, compared to the September quarter of 2025 and 2024. This was the strongest growth in loans to first home buyers seen last year.”
Area and department manager at Real Estate Central Darwin, Jo Griffiths, told realestate.com.au the strong increase in property sales has dampened the city’s rental market.
“Before they even came into the market, we were in dire need,” Ms Griffiths said, noting Darwin’s large population of young, part-time workers, who tend to rent more than buy.
Renters are facing tough competition across the country, although the pace of rental price growth has slowed compared to last year. Image: Getty
“Darwin still has a small economy, so we are dealing with fluctuations in property as people move in and out of town.
“Traditionally, the last quarter of the year is a little quieter,” he said, “in February it picks up again and we see a lot of teachers and doctors and all those kinds of trades and defense workers come to town this time of year, so those rents really jump when those stock levels go down.”
He said the units are “starting to see their time in the sun” as buyers are priced out of the housing market.
Nationally, rental housing growth outpaced housing growth for the year, rising 6.7% compared to 3.2% for housing.
