More expensive than Sydney: Queensland rents top hits

ocopd 2026年1月19日

0 10 3 minutes read

More expensive than Sydney: Queensland rents top hits

The cost of renting in the Queensland states is now the same as in Brisbane.

Queensland rents have hit a record high, with Brisbane and the suburbs now averaging $670 a week – with one growing city now more expensive than Sydney.

Rent on the Gold Coast is now a staggering $850 a week, or just over $44k a year – more than Sydney’s median rent of $760 a week.

A statewide $670 a week, or close to $35,000 a year, means rent now accounts for more than a third of household income – the legal threshold for rental pressure – with Queensland leading the regional figures across the country.

View from Burleigh Heads National Park in Queensland, Australia

The average cost of living on the Gold Coast is higher than Sydney.

Aerial view of the Brisbane Bridge at sunset, also known as the Story Bridge,

Brisbane unit rents to outpace rents by 2025.

Brisbane’s average rent for all dwellings rose 3.1 per cent in the December quarter, and 6.3 per cent in 2025, to cement the city as one of Australia’s top rental markets, with REA Group chief economist Anne Flaherty warning of little relief in sight across the country.

“The rate at which we’ve seen house prices and rents increase in Brisbane has far outstripped the rate at which people’s wages have increased,” warned Ms Flaherty.

“The result of that is that people are spending a much higher percentage of their income on housing costs compared to a few years ago.”

Realestate.com.au’s latest Market Insight off PropTrack data found regional areas that once offered affordable escapes were no more, with the Gold Coast costing $180 a week more expensive than Brisbane after it also rose 6.3 per cent in 2025 and 2.4 per cent in the quarter. That was a dollar increase from the $2,600 median rent.

Average residential rent in Cairns rose 8.7 per cent last year to $625 a week.

Townsvile’s average rent rose 10 per cent last year to $550 a week.

In Cairns, the tax jumped 4.2 per cent in the quarter, and 8.7 per cent in the year to $625 a week – an increase of $2,600 a year.

Townsville also recorded an increase of $2,600 year-on-year, up 1.9 per cent in the quarter, but a shock of 10 per cent year-on-year to almost $550 – underscoring how regional markets are no longer locked into the wider housing crisis.

Ms Flaherty said the pressure to rent was becoming more and more common.

“If you spend more than a third of your income on rent, you know you are under pressure to rent, but that has become a habit for many families,” she said.

Even the traditional “cheap option” to rent a unit is gone, with Brisbane unit rents up 8.3 per cent last year – faster than houses at 6.2 per cent – as demand is concentrated in inner-city areas where most of the stock resides.

The pressure is caused by the chronic lack of housing that accompanies population growth, he said.

“Unless we see a big change, all signs point to a very expensive market,” Ms Flaherty said.

PropTrack’s latest report on rental prices. Source: PropTrack

“Until we see a tangible change in housing supply, which will take several years, it will remain a challenging and expensive market to rent.”

There was little hope on the horizon, as investor activity began to pick up, which could eventually add to employment, he said.

The government’s five per cent deposit scheme could also free up rent – if it helped tenants move into their homes – but that depended on whether or not they bought the property from previous investors.

Ms Flaherty said that although rent growth is unlikely to return to the very high levels seen in 2022 and 2023, prices are still expected to increase in 2026.

“Rents are expected to increase, just at a lower rate compared to what we saw a few years ago,” he said.