More expensive than Sydney: Queensland rent hits record high

17 hours ago 1

Aerial view of established Cairns suburb with new housing development, Coral Sea & Double Island Reef in distance

The cost of renting in Queensland’s regions is now the same as Brisbane.

Queensland rent has hit a record high, with no escape as Brisbane and the regions now sit equal on $670 a week – with one surging city now more expensive than Sydney.

Rent on the Gold Coast is now a shock $850 a week, or just over $44k a year – higher than the cost of renting in Sydney’s median of $760 a week.

The statewide $670 a week, or close to $35,000 a year, means rent now devours over a third of many household incomes – the official threshold for rental stress – with Queensland topping regional figures nationwide.

View from Burleigh Heads National Park in Queensland, Australia

The median dwelling rent on the Gold Coast is higher than Sydney.

Aerial view of the Brisbane Bridge at sunset, also known as Story Bridge,

Brisbane unit rents soared more than house rents did in 2025.

Brisbane’s median rent for all dwellings climbed 3.1 per cent over the December quarter, and 6.3 per cent over 2025, to cement the city as one of Australia’s toughest rental markets, with REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty warning of little relief in sight across the state.

“The rate at which we’ve seen home prices and rents increase in Brisbane has far outstripped the pace at which people’s salaries have increased,” Ms Flaherty warned.

“The end result of that is that people are forking out a much higher percentage of their take-home salary in housing costs compared to a few years ago.”

The latest realestate.com.au Market Insight off PropTrack data found regional areas that once offered an affordable escape were no longer so, with the Gold Coast $180 a week more expensive than Brisbane after it too rose 6.3 per cent in 2025 and 2.4 per cent in the quarter. That was a dollar rise in median rent cost of $2,600.

The median dwelling rent in Cairns rose 8.7 per cent last year to $625 a week.

Townsvile’s median rent surged by a shock 10 per cent last year to $550 a week.

In Cairns, rents jumped 4.2 per cent in the quarter, and 8.7 per cent over the year to $625 a week – which was a rise of $2,600 annually.

Townsville also recorded a $2,600 year-on-year increase, up 1.9 per cent over the quarter, but a shock 10 per cent annually to around $550 – underlining how regional markets were no longer insulated from the broader housing crunch.

Ms Flaherty said rental stress was becoming the norm rather than the exception.

“If you’re spending more than around a third of your income on rent, you know you’re in rental stress, but that’s just becoming the norm for a lot of families,” she said.

Even the traditional “cheaper option” of renting a unit has been wiped out, with Brisbane unit rents surging 8.3 per cent over the past year – rising faster than houses at 6.2 per cent – as demand concentrates in inner-city areas where most rental stock sits.

The pressure was being driven by chronic undersupply of housing combined with strong population growth, she said.

“Unless we see some dramatic shift, all signs point to a more expensive market,” Ms Flaherty said.

The latest PropTrack report on rental prices. Source: PropTrack

“Until we see a meaningful turnaround in housing supply, which is going to take several years, it’s going to remain a challenging and expensive market to rent in.”

There was slight hope on the horizon, with investor activity beginning to pick up, which could eventually add to rental supply, she said.

The government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme was also one that could free up rentals – if it helped renters transition to their own homes – but that was dependent on whether or not they bought a previous investor property.

Ms Flaherty said while rent growth was unlikely to return to the extreme levels seen in 2022 and 2023, prices were still expected to rise throughout 2026.

“Rents are projected to move higher, just at a slower rate compared to what we saw a few years ago,” she said.