Adelaide suburbs where rent is more expensive than Melbourne

Some outer Adelaide suburban renters are paying thousands more a year than their Melbourne counterparts – fuelled by a massive shift in our worklife.

Home renters in Adelaide’s southern suburbs are paying thousands more annually than Melbourne counterparts, triggering demands to boost housing supply by releasing more land.

Weekly rents in suburbs including Flagstaff Hill, Moana, Seaford Rise and Noarlunga Downs exceed metropolitan Melbourne’s by up to $120, a housing affordability report to be released on Friday by the Master Builders Association shows.

The median Melbourne weekly rent is $430, compared with Flagstaff Hill’s $550, Happy Valley’s $478, Moana’s $475, Noarlunga Downs and Seaford Rise’s $450 and Port Noarlunga South’s $430.

Southern suburbs real estate agents report weekly rents between $650 and $700 are not unusual.

The shift to working from home has fuelled demand for suburban housing, renowned social commentator Bernard Salt says in an Advertiser column, also urging a rethink of Adelaide’s strategic plan.

Homes in Adelaide’s southern suburbs. Picture Campbell Brodie.

The Improving Housing Affordability in South Australia report, prepared by economic and market research consultants Hudson Howells, pinpoints southern Adelaide as case study of a “nationally disadvantaged community at the extreme of the rental crisis” and forecasts between 450 to 1300 new homes will be needed annually there during the next 15 years to meet demand.

The report argues shifting to a 50-50 balance between infill and greenfield development – rather than the present 70 per cent infill – would supply up to 16,000 more affordable homes over the next decade across the state.

“Current excessive government intervention to restrict land and affordable housing supply is causing market failure and reduced housing affordability,” the report concludes.

“Long-term government policies to increase land supply and housing stock are urgently required to address both housing affordability, choice and the rental crisis.”

A “responsive land release and housing strategy” could create $6.7bn in investment and 50,000 jobs for the state during the next 15 years, the report argues.

Infill development has ignited a community backlash against overcrowding and congestion, the report claims, dismissing arguments that infrastructure and social costs are significantly lower than in greenfield developments.

In his column, Mr Salt says work-from-home has become part of post-pandemic life and defused arguments against more suburbia, such as pressure on transport infrastructure.

“More people working remotely in the quietude of Adelaide’s suburbs and lifestyle zones reduces carbon emissions, is kinder to our mental health, delivers a better quality of urban life, and activates suburban hubs,” he says.

Housing in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, viewed from Sellicks Hill. Picture: Campbell Brodie.

Master Builders SA chief executive officer Will Frogley said: “The findings on these extreme rental costs in our southern and outer-southern suburbs shows the current policy favouring infill over greenfields housing is adding to the economic disadvantage these communities are already experiencing.

“Housing affordability and regional development outcomes are achieved from a mix of infill and greenfields development that also gives people choice about their living locations and housing styles.”