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Rents in some parts of the Central Coast and western Sydney are on their way to catching up with the rest of the city, as vacancy rates tighten to a record low, new data reveals.
Four suburbs in the Gosford region and two more in the Penrith and Wyong areas experienced median rent increases between 10.2 per cent and 18.2 per cent for units over the past 12 months. Gosford rents increased by 62.5 per cent for units and 66.7 per cent for houses over the past five years, according to the latest Domain Rental Report. It now costs $650 a week to rent a unit in Gosford, the same as renting a unit in Enmore or Newtown.
In western Sydney, house rents in Old Guildford jumped by 25 per cent in the past year, to $750 a week, while in Milperra it will set you back $1000 a week on average, a 17.6 per cent increase. The median rent for a house in Five Dock or North Strathfield is $1100 per week.
Domain chief of research and economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said while Sydney remains the most expensive rental market nationally, it’s an “uneven” environment across the city with prices in some areas stagnating and even falling.
Median rents in more than 30 suburbs across Sydney either fell or were unchanged.
“It is not driven by an oversupply, rent fatigue is slowing down rent growth. For a number of years for many, [rent increases] have far exceeded wage growth and there is only so much people can afford.”
For some, Powell said options such as moving back in with parents or taking in house mates offered ways to save on costs.
“[Adult] children have become like ping pongs,” she said. “They move out, but they come back.
“Granny flats have become a poignant search term. People are looking for creative ways for their adult children to move in and still make it a feasible dynamic for the family.”
But seeking relief by looking further afield came with trade-offs, Powell said.
“It’s about balance sheets and weighing up your commute,” she said. “Whether I move further out and do the commute, or live closer in but I have to share my space with a housemate, this is the reality that many Sydneysiders are going through.
“This affordability crisis is nowhere near over.”
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the tax reform announcements expected in the upcoming federal budget may not bring the relief that many renters – and potential home owners – are hoping for.
“There is a lot in play around taxes on investors and making investment properties less attractive. Interest rate increases make investment properties less attractive but if we do see higher taxes on investors, we will see fewer rental properties [available].”
Since arriving in Sydney from India in 2022 to complete a degree in environmental studies, Ayesha Shaikh, 22, has run the rental gamut from student accommodation – where the roof leaked so much, she often woke up to a “swimming pool” in her room – to sharing an apartment in Kogarah with a male stranger twice her age for almost a year.
An Instagram post led to another sublet arrangement, sharing with two other young women she didn’t know in Leichhardt.
“It’s a gamble with the type of flatmates you get but I have also heard stories of friends moving in and they end up hating each other.”
She is paying $375 a week.
“I have a few friends who rent as well and they are pretty much paying the same amount. A friend in Tasmania is paying $330.”
Now in stable employment, Shaikh is considering her options.
“I got my job in December last year but I wasn’t sure what my situation would be. For rent, they need income statements and past referees and you have to go to multiple inspections and I didn’t have the time to do that,” she said.
Long-term tenancy is a key concern for many, said Georgina Harrisson, chief executive for housing advocacy group Amplify.
“If you are a family making decisions about where you want to live, school catchments and the distance to travel to school, it is a level of insecurity that families have to carry all the time, not knowing how long they have to stay.”
She said the federal government’s nine-point Better Deal for Renters initiative, announced in 2023, including a minimum quality standard for rental properties, was a starting point to provide renters with greater certainty.
“We need to address some of the structural insecurities in the rental sector making sure it delivers the changes we want to see, encouraging longer-term rentals, implementing national standards with more secure tenancy models so we can stop seeing incredibly high rents for substandard properties.”
