July Rental Pulse: National Rents Touch $650 While Wages Tread Water

I have just finished crunching the July 2025 update of our national Rent Index, and the headline number is impossible to miss. The median advertised rent across Australia now sits at $650 per week, taking the national index to 175.7. In plain terms, typical rents are almost 76 percent higher than at the start of 2011, while the national wage index has lifted only 43 percent in the same window. The gap between what landlords charge and what workers earn has never been wider.

That tension forms the backdrop to every city story below. Some capitals are still accelerating, a few have plateaued, and one has even slipped a touch. Yet each paints a picture of households battling for limited stock in an era of stubbornly low vacancy and population growth that shows no sign of slowing. I will start with the national numbers, then tour each capital.

Australia: Median Rent $650

Rent Index 175.7 since January 2011

Over the past twelve months the national median has risen $30 or 4.8 percent. That might sound tame beside the double-digit leaps we saw in 2022, but remember wages improved by scarcely three percent in the same stretch. In other words, renters have effectively taken a real pay cut again this year.

The wage-rent gap now sits at 32.4 index points. Twelve months ago it was 25.6. Every percentage point of extra rent growth without matching pay makes the affordability crunch sharper, and we are feeling it everywhere from metropolitan studios to regional farmhouses.

National rent up $30 over the past 12 months.

Sydney: Rent Up 6.7%

Sydney’s rental market showed a 6.7 percent annual lift, pushing its index above 166 for the first time. That translates to roughly two weeks of extra rent per year for the same flat or terrace you leased last July. What I find most striking is that listings volumes are actually a little higher than a year ago, yet asking rents keep edging north because tenant demand is still outstripping new supply. International arrivals remain tilted toward New South Wales and they tend to start their Australian life in Sydney’s rental pool.

The silver lining, if you can call it that, is that Sydney’s growth rate has slowed from double digits in 2023 to high single digits now. Unless population inflows re-accelerate, I expect the harbour city to drift closer to national trend in the next quarter, although it remains the country’s most expensive market in dollar terms.

Melbourne: Rent Up 5.1%

Melbourne added 5.1 percent year-on-year, taking its index above 170 for the first time. The Victorian capital is still playing catch-up after pandemic rent discounts, so its rental inflation sits just under Sydney’s pace. Vacancy sits around one percent, keeping pressure on inner-city apartments in particular. I have noticed a renewed surge in demand close to major university precincts and hospital campuses; overseas students and returning office workers are scrambling for the same one-bed stock.

One quirk worth watching is Melbourne’s split market. Outer-suburban houses are seeing softer growth as construction completions trickle through, whereas small units within 10 km of the CBD are recording bids well above advertised price guides. The average tenant’s commute tolerance seems to be shortening again, and landlords within earshot of a tram bell are benefitting.

Brisbane: Rent Up 9.2%

Brisbane’s rental market surged 9.2 percent over the past year, continuing its run as one of Australia’s fastest-rising capitals. That jump puts the city well above the national rent growth rate and signals that, despite some earlier hopes of easing, the pressure is very much still on.

What’s driving it? In short, demand is still hot and supply just can’t keep up. Migration into Queensland has remained high, particularly from Victoria and New South Wales, and many of those newcomers arrive as renters first. At the same time, construction activity hasn’t been able to rebound strongly due to labour shortages and material costs, which means very few new properties are hitting the rental market.

Adelaide: Rent Index Up 5.1%

Adelaide is my plot-line of the month. A 5.1 percent annual surge fires its index to within a whisker of 200, meaning average rents are almost double where they sat in 2011. Investors have chased yields into South Australia because entry prices were lower than the east-coast giants, and that competition has driven values – and therefore advertised rents – sharply higher.

Tenants tell me they are seeing 60-plus groups at open inspections, a scenario unthinkable in Adelaide five years ago. The supply pipeline is thin, land releases are slow, and a record share of interstate migrants list South Australia as their new home. Unless policy makers fast-track medium-density approvals, Adelaide could leapfrog Brisbane for the title of tightest capital city rental market by early 2026.

Perth: Rent Up 7.7%

Perth’s index climbed 7.7 percent over the year, the fastest pace in Western Australia since 2021. Resource-sector hiring has spiked again, with LNG and battery-minerals projects soaking up skilled workers who almost all arrive as renters first. Trouble is, developers are still cautious, partly because construction costs remain elevated. The result is a rental market that feels a bit like a pressure cooker: not boiling over, yet definitely hissing.

I am keeping an eye on vacancy, which is flirting with 0.7 percent. Any reading under one percent means prospective tenants have maybe one or two viable properties to apply for at any moment. Unless iron-ore or lithium prices collapse and stem migration, Perth looks set for further rent growth into summer.

Hobart: Rent Up 15.7%

Yes, you read that correctly: Hobart’s index is now two-and-a-half times its 2011 level after a breathtaking 15.7 percent annual leap. The Tasmanian capital remains tiny in absolute numbers, yet its trajectory is mighty. Tourism and hospitality returned with a vengeance post-Covid, remote workers flocked for lifestyle, and student demand from mainland Australia bounced back. At the same time, new dwelling approvals fell to a decade low last year. That perfect storm has pushed Hobart above every other city on a relative scale.

For renters the experience is brutal: typical weekly asking rents have doubled in just seven years. Some relief may come from the state’s social-housing builds due in 2026, but right now vacant stock is vanishingly small.

Darwin: Rent Up 15.0%

Darwin chalked up a 15.0 percent lift, taking the index to its highest point since 2014. The bounce coincides with defence projects and LNG expansion driving a fresh cohort of workers north. Darwin’s market is famously volatile, and this spike follows several years of flat growth, so the long-term trend is less alarming than Hobart’s. Still, the speed of the move has blindsided many tenants. Rents in some suburbs have risen more than $100 per week in six months.

Because Darwin’s stock is so thin, conditions can flip quickly if relocation contracts finish or projects postpone. For now, though, the crocodile city is firmly on the landlord’s side.

Canberra: Rent Up 11.7%

The national capital has posted an 11.7 percent jump, lifting Canberra above its previous peaks set in 2022. Public-sector hiring has stabilised rather than expanded, yet private employers in defence technology and cyber-security are absorbing the slack. Many of those workers arrive from interstate and take six to twelve months to decide whether to buy, which means they swell the rental pool first.

One subtle dynamic here is household size. A growing share of renters in the ACT are singles or couples, not families. That trend drives demand for one- and two-bed apartments rather than detached houses, pushing up the average rent per square metre even more quickly than overall advertised rent.

Putting it all together

When I stitch the eight capital stories back into the national picture, a clear pattern emerges:

• Smaller markets with limited construction (Hobart, Adelaide, Darwin) are posting double-digit rent growth.

• The two biggest markets (Sydney, Melbourne) are still rising faster than wages but no longer in runaway mode.

• Brisbane shows ongoing demand can sustain large price increases.

• Perth sits in the middle, hostage to global commodity cycles and local build costs.

Every tenant I speak with feels the squeeze, and the numbers back them up. Since July 2020 rents have advanced 34 percent while wages have climbed just 14 percent. That is the textbook definition of a housing affordability crisis.

Feeling the pinch? Here is what to do next

I built Deedable’s Rent Index so renters, investors, and policy makers can track these shifts in near real time instead of waiting months for official releases.

And if you find yourself staring at an eye-watering lease renewal, do not suffer in silence. Our free tool SaveMyRent uses market evidence to help you negotiate a fairer deal with your landlord. Hundreds of Australians have already shaved dollars off their weekly payments or secured longer-term security. Give it a try and let me know how you go – together we can turn data into real-world relief.