Australian renters suffer biggest quarterly increase in 17 years – here’s what they can expect to pay

Long-suffering Australian tenants cannot get any relief.

Asking rents began to rise again in the first quarter as the typically busy early-year transition period collided with an already hot market.

The average cost of renting a home in the combined capitals hit a new record of $630 a week, according to property platform Domain, posting its biggest quarterly gain in 17 years.

Advertised home rents rose five percent during the quarter in the nation’s urban centers, with units also rising a solid 3.3 percent to a new record median sales price of $620.

Renters in most capital cities have been shelling out more to keep a roof over their heads due to an acute shortage of available properties during a booming period of population growth.

Domain head of research and economics Nicola Powell said the rental market generally experienced intense turmoil in the first quarter as the year progressed.

He said these usual seasonal factors came at a time of limited supply and high demand, intensifying their usual effect.

“Consequently, this imbalance has driven a further acceleration of rental price growth,” he said.

The biggest quarterly changes were recorded in Adelaide, where asking rents for houses increased by 5.4 per cent, followed by Perth (4.8 per cent), Melbourne (3.6 per cent), Brisbane (3.3 per cent ) and Sydney (2.7 percent).

Vacancy rates also fell in all major cities except Hobart, with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth at record lows.

However, Powell was confident that the rental market would find a turning point in 2024 as population growth slowed.

“We are seeing the number of potential tenants per rental listing decrease, which suggests some pressure has been relieved,” he said.