These Are the Australian Suburbs That Are the Most Painful to Rent In

The rental market has been on the descent to hell for a number of years now. However, things are particularly dire following the pandemic, with rent prices rising astronomically while the cost of living crisis bites us from the other end. To outline just how terrible things are, Suburbtrends has released the Rental Pain Index, determining which Australian suburbs are worst for renters.

Here are some of the key findings.

How the Rental Pain Index works

Suburbtrends’ Rental Pain Index aggregates metrics for rent change, advertised rentals, vacancy rates, vacancy change and rental affordability. This is then split into Statistical Area 2 (SA2) suburb groups as used by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard.

Data for this report is based on SA2 rolling 12-month medians to the end of August 2023. The index is only applicable to SA2s with a minimum of 250 properties managed by real estate agents.

As for the scores in the Rental Pain Index, the scale ranges from 1 to 100, where 100 denotes the most unfavourable conditions for renters, while 1 points to optimal conditions.

Which Australian suburbs are the worst for renters?

Now, let’s take a look at the findings. As defined by the Rental Pain Index, here are the top five suburb groups that scored the highest (aka the most painful) across the nation.

New South Wales

1. Ashcroft – Busby – Miller (Score: 100)
2. St Johns Park – Wakeley (Score: 100)
3. Bass Hill – Georges Hall (Score: 99)
4. Kincumber – Pickett’s Valley (Score: 99)
5. Chester Hill – Sefton (Score: 99)

Victoria

1. Wheelers Hill (Score: 96)
2. Warrnambool – South (Score: 96)
3. Newcomb – Moolap (Score: 94)
4. East Bendigo – Kennington (Score: 92)
5. Lalor – West (Score: 92)

Queensland

1. Keperra (Score: 96)
2. Logan Central (Score: 96)
3. Drayton – Harristown (Score: 96)
4. Park Avenue (Score: 96)
5. Darling Heights (Score: 95)

South Australia

1. Christie Downs (Score: 100)
2. Salisbury (Score: 100)
3. Seaton – Grange (Score: 100)
4. Smithfield – Elizabeth North (Score: 98)
5. Morphett Vale – East (Score 96)

Western Australia

1. Calista (Score: 99)
2. College Grove – Carey Park (Score: 95)
3. Bull Creek (Score: 95)
4. Tuart Hill – Joondanna (Score: 94)
5. Hamilton Hill (Score: 93)

Tasmania

1. Invermay (Score: 100)
2. Newnham – Mayfield (Score: 85)
3. Summerhill – Prospect (Score: 85)
4. Mowbray (Score: 80)
5. Bellerive – Rosny (Score: 79)

Australian Capital Territory

1. Phillip (Score: 77)
2. Palmerston (Score: 76)
3. O’Connor (ACT) (Score: 69)
4. Barton (Score: 68)
5. Kingston (ACT) (Score: 67)

Northern Territory

1. Millner (Score: 89)
2. Rapid Creek (Score: 77)
3. Larrakeyah (Score: 72)
4. Bakewell (Score: 69)
5. Fannie Bay – The Gardens (Score: 66)

Overall, the 2023 Rental Pain Index found that Western Australia was the state with the worst rental conditions, featuring a 16.59 per cent median increase in weighted average rents for its top 25 SA2s, paired with a low vacancy rate of 0.58 per cent and a marginal vacancy change of -0.12 per cent. South Australia and Queensland followed in the pain ranking; meanwhile, Tasmania and the ACT were shown to have the most favourable conditions for renters.

You can find further statistics as well as the full list of the top 25 ranked suburbs in each state and territory in Suburbtrends’ report.

Lead Image Credit: iStock