Rent data shows staggering yearly rises of up to $32,500

Units have seen similarly staggering rises in some of the country’s most sought-after markets.

Darling Point in Sydney’s east has seen rents increase $200 a week, to $1,050 for a median unit. It’s a significant rise but probably felt even more keenly in Queensland’s Main Beach, where the additional $200 per week brings the average rent from $550 per week to $750.

While most markets are feeling the squeeze, it’s in the nation’s capitals where pressure has ramped up, with rental growth having eased somewhat across the regions.

Here are the markets where rents have increased by the greatest weekly amount:

Houses

Units

Certainly, these suburbs are seeing the largest increases because their properties rent for some of the highest prices in the country. Arguably, those renting in these areas are at the greatest liberty to pay more for accommodation, as high-income earners are more likely to have a larger tranche of disposable income to spend when needed. What these figures reveal, however, is that the extent of the rental crisis as increases are being felt exponentially at every end of the market.

As the latest CoreLogic housing report noted, Australians across the board are paying the highest proportion of their income towards rent since June 2014.

Currently, a median-income household will need to devote 30.8 per cent of their income to service a new lease.

At the lower household income — or those in the 25 percentile — that figure sits substantially higher, with 51.6 per cent of income going towards rent.

ANZ senior economist Felicity Emmett described the perfect storm that has seen rents balloon at every price bracket.

“Heightened economic uncertainty has seen a decline in sales volumes in the private market and an increase in those seeking rental accommodation. Paired with a decline in social housing, rental demand pressures are being felt in all income brackets,” Ms Emmett said.

CoreLogic’s head of research in Australia, Eliza Owen, expanded on that picture, adding that fewer people per household coupled with a strong return in overseas migration had left the country with a problem that has no easy fix.

“As rents have risen sharply, the increase in the cash rate and pressures in the construction sector have slowed the rate of dwelling completions. This has meant investor conditions are not ideal and has stemmed the flow of new rental properties to the market,” Ms Owen said.

“Through February and March, ABS lending data has shown signs of an increase in investment borrowing, but it will take some time for a supply response to ease pressures in the rental market.”