The 10 Aussie Suburbs Where House Rental Prices Have Gone Up the Most

February 27, 2023

Renting in Australia: It’s a Crisis

I’m just going to say it: Renting in Australia can be a roller coaster made of misery. Not every house allows pets, you can’t put nails in your walls, and it’s always a bit scary when your lease is up.

Moreover, in recent memory, renting has somehow got even worse. This is because:

In 2023, the rental market is super competitive. And, when there are too many renters fighting over not enough homes, the cost of renting gets higher.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept increasing the amount of cash that homeowners have to spend on their mortgages. And, if a homeowner’s property is on the rental market, they can just pass on these increases to their tenant.

The severity of this situation can be demonstrated in how some suburban rentals have skyrocketed in price. According to PropTrack, a whack of regional houses across Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland have risen in price by over 40% in just the last 12 months.

PropTrack has also determined which ten Australian towns and villages have experienced the biggest house price increases. And this rental info is as follows:

Town	State	Current Median Rental Price	Percentage Markup in the Last 12 Months
Katanning	Western Australia	$375	47%
Port Broughton	South Australia	$340	43%
Gatton	Queensland	$460	41%
Elliott Heads	Queensland	$480	41%
Orbost	Victoria	$340	40%
Stanwell Park	New South Wales	$910	39%
Catherine Hill Bay	NSW	$715	38%
Wamuran	Queensland	$660	35%
Rochester	Victoria	$455	35%
Wongan Hills	Western Australia	$315	35%

Renting in Australia: It’s Not Getting Better

It’s worth emphasising that it’s not just towns like Katanning and Port Broughton that have munted rental prices. Everywhere is getting screwed and will likely continue to get screwed.

A pair of St George Bank economists, Pat Bustamante and Jameson Coombs, have stated that in 2022, the cost of renting in Australia increased by 10%. Additionally, they’ve predicted that through 2023, it will rise by another 11.5%. If Bustamante and Coombs are correct, this means that household rental bills will increase in total by $10 billion.

“This is on top of the $5 billion increase in households’ 2022 rent bill. This is significant,” said the economists.

“A $10 billion increase in the rent bill of households is equivalent to an average 20% increase in housing costs. These households will likely be required to pull back on spending to meet the higher rental costs. If this occurs, nominal household consumption could be up to 1% lower in 2023 alone.”

Buying in Australia: Not a Picnic

Hey, do you want some more troubling news? Are you sure?

Okay then: So, buying a home in Australia can also be a difficult task. This is because new listings in cities such as Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney have had a significant drop-off in 2023. As it stands, there are not enough homes for people who want to buy them.

As CoreLogic’s Research Director, Tim Lawless, said, “We are seeing homeowners just waiting on the sidelines and that’s also accompanied by less buying activity.”

Furthermore, PEXA’s CEO, Glenn King, has stated that this lack of listings creates awful situations, as some folks are trapped in rubbish living arrangements.

King said, “Many first home buyers, who are forced to buy far from the centre of cities, are denied the opportunities that may increase their quality of life, including access to the higher paying jobs that are in the central city and employment hubs.”

If there was ever a time for all levels of government to step in and fix this housing crisis, it’s now. Please and thank you, mates.

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