Gagebrook rents are heading towards $500 per week. Picture: Matt Thompson
There are just six Hobart suburbs where house renters can budget less than $500 per week to put a roof over their heads.
PropTrack data shows Gagebrook and Herdsmans Cove houses can be rented for $450 per week, Primrose Sands for $455, or Bridgewater for $470.
The median rent in New Norfolk is $490 and in Risdon Vale it is $495.
On realestate.com.au last week, Herdsmans Cove had only two houses available to rent. There were four in Gagebrook, and four in Risdon Vale.
Primrose Sands had three options, while Bridgewater offered just one house.
New Norfolk had five houses to rent, although two of them cost far more than $500 – one is $575 and the other is seeking $650 per week.
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No.30 Plymouth Rd, Gagebrook can be rented for $520 through Fall Real Estate. Picture: realestate.com.au
For $450 per week, No.67 Fisher Dr, Herdsmans Cove can be rented through 4one4 Property Co. Picture: realestate.com.au
The latest SQM Research figures show Hobart has the tightest vacancy rate in Australia. In January it was just 0.4 per cent.
There were 112 vacancies, which was down from 124 in December 2025, but up from just 95 vacancies in January 2025.
A healthy rental market is considered to have a 3 per cent vacancy rate. Hobart’s vacancy rate has not reached this level since April 2012, per SQM figures.
Head of property at SQM, Sam Tate, said unless there is a meaningful increase in new rental supply, upward pressure on rents is likely to persist through the first half of 2026.
In the week ending February 12, SQM figures show a typical Hobart house costs $597 per week to rent. This is up 8 per cent annually.
Unit rental costs are not much cheaper than houses at $550 per week, while being 16.8 per cent higher than 12 months ago.
No.6 Killarney Rd, Bridgewater can be rented for $480 per week with T.G. Newton. Picture: realestate.com.au
No.36 South St, Battery Point is seeking $1400 per week for rent, with Harcourts Hobart. Picture: realestate.com.au
Meanwhile, Battery Point is predictably Hobart’s most expensive suburb to rent a house at $775.
This is followed by city suburbs Sandy Bay and Dynnyrne ($750 and $720), Tranmere ($710), and Lauderdale ($675), per PropTrack data.
Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said renters are currently experiencing the most acute pressure in the housing system.
She said investor policy cannot be separated from rental outcomes — the two are directly linked.
“If investor participation falls, rental supply tightens. When rental supply tightens, rents rise,” Ms Conisbee said.
“Rental housing in Australia exists because investors buy it.
“Almost every rental property in the country is owned by an investor.”
ABS figures show that 83 per cent of rentals are owned by private investors, almost 10 per cent are Government tenants and 2.6 per cent are community housing tenants.
Ray White Group chief economist, Nerida Conisbee. Picture: Supplied
Ms Conisbee said when investor purchases slow, the pipeline of rental stock slows with them.
And if they retreat from the market, fewer properties are added to the rental pool, she said.
“Rental housing can be treated as though it simply exists, rather than being actively provided by someone,” she said.
“That “someone” is overwhelmingly small, private investors … who own one or two properties.
“Encouraging more investment in new housing, particularly new dwellings, increases rental supply.
“Discouraging participation [such as potential changes to capital gains tax concessions] reduces it.
“If the objective is to improve rental affordability, policy focus must be on expanding supply.”
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