Shock as rents fall in almost 1 in 10 suburbs

2 weeks ago 29

The sharpest drop of all suburbs came out of the Australian Capital Territory where Oaks Estate unit rent medians plunged a whopping -36.9 per cent year-on-year.

Rents have fallen in almost one in 10 suburbs nationwide, signalling a major shift in the unrelenting housing crisis – with 58 logging surprise double-digit drops.

The falls are spread across every mainland capital and regional market, and make up just over 9 per cent of suburbs surveyed in PropTrack’s latest quarterly rents data for February.

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A one-bedroom unit at Park Road, Yeerongpilly, has had a deposit taken after being put up for $450 a week with a bond of $1,800.

Greater Sydney, long considered one of the country’s tightest rental markets, had the highest number of suburbs with 102 falling in rental price by as much as -17.7 per cent.

Greater Melbourne had 91 which have gone backwards, Adelaide 58, ACT 40, Brisbane 29, Perth 21 and Darwin 5, while regional rental price falls were led by New South Wales (84), followed by 53 in Queensland, 38 Victoria, 12 Tasmania, 9 in SA, 5 in WA and two in NT.

The sharpest drop of all suburbs came out of the Australian Capital Territory where Oaks Estate unit rents plunged a whopping -36.9 per cent year-on-year from $650 in February 2025 to $410 in February 2026.

Other steep falls included Weetangera (ACT) units, down 32.9 per cent, Strahan (Tas) houses, down 25.3 per cent, Bald Hills (Qld) units, down 20.4 per cent and Kent Town (SA) houses, down 20 per cent.

The data covered median rent values in February for houses and units in all suburbs with sufficient data – meaning there had to be a minimum of 10 rentals listings in all periods to be included.

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An Oaks Estate unit in this complex was listed at $765 a week, close to double the suburb median.

Greater Sydney’s significant declines came out of Norah Head houses, down by 17.7 per cent, Blue Bay dropped 17.5 per cent, while Middle Cove rents eased 13.5 per cent year-on-year.

Melbourne’s outer and lifestyle suburbs were also hit, with Wonga Park down 18.8 per cent, Pentland Hills down 18.2 per cent and Monbulk falling 14.6 per cent.

In Brisbane, Tennyson houses dropped 16.7 per cent, Yeerongpilly fell 16.9 per cent and Bald Hills units slumped more than 20 per cent.

Even prestige pockets were not immune with East Lindfield on Sydney’s North Shore seeing house rents fall 10 per cent to $1,440 per week, while Salter Point in Perth dropped 10 per cent to $900.

Regional markets – which led the rental surge during the pandemic migration boom – also recorded notable corrections with Federal in northern NSW falling 11.4 per cent, Clare in South Australia dropping 10 per cent, and Onslow in Western Australia declining 10 per cent.

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Housing experts have been warning affordability ceilings are being reached across the country after years of rapid rent growth, including housing and homelessness peak body Q Shelter which has called for greater protection for tenants including limits on rent increases matched to inflation.

Its pre-budget submission to the Queensland state government warned “there is more to do to ensure that people in an acute crisis have a housing option and aren’t sleeping rough, couch surfing or living in cars”.

‘The pressure on the housing market is sustained with low rental vacancies, high median house prices, and the rising cost of rents. This warrants a sustained level of investment in the capacity to help people right now while pursuing deep reforms that ensure a healthy housing system long-term.”

It said the state needed “a target for affordable housing where people pay a discount to market rent and where that discount delivers housing at less than 30 per cent of income”.

The PropTrack data showed more than 5,000 suburbs were experiencing increases across major capitals and regions, with just over 360 seeing rent flatlining at the same level it was a year ago.