Melbourne families abandon home ownership for renting in top areas

Jade Costello and her sons Fox (blonde), 8, and Alfie, 6, are part of a trend of Victorians turning their back on a mortgage and returning to renting. Picture: Mark Stewart. A surprise reason Melbourne’s rents are rising in more affluent areas could be a growing share of reasonably well off Melburnians opting to rent instead of own their home. Jade Costello and her family recently opted to ditch their mortgage and go back into the rental market, with a goal to invest and live in the area they wanted to be in — rather than sacrifice everything to pay a mortgage. And she doesn’t believe she’s alone. RELATED: Vic gov’s shock response as grim new rental crisis data emerges Vic suburbs the RBA just priced you out of Victorian landlords face battle over rent rises under new regulations Jade Costello and her family recently opted to ditch their mortgage and go back into the rental market, with a goal to invest and live in the area they wanted to be in. Picture: Mark Stewart Ms Costello founded Rental Search Australia, a business that connects people moving interstate and internationally with homes in the future city — but has been finding there has been increasing competition with rentves...