Signs of hope after rent surge

Adelaide’s rents have risen sharply over the past 12 months. Search our interactive map and table to find out what you can expect to pay in your suburb.

Adelaide’s rents continue to climb across SA, but in good news for tenants, they may be starting to slow.

According to PropTrack data, median house rents in Murray Bridge have increased the most over the past 12 months and are up 27.27 per cent from $330 this time last year to the current $420.

Despite this significant increase over the past year, its median rent has experienced a more modest increase of 2.44 per cent over the past quarter, when rents were $410.

Highbury houses, in Adelaide’s leafy northeast, has had the second highest growth over the past 12 months at 25.53 per cent, while Lockleys units and Wallaroo and Semaphore houses increased by 23.53 per cent, 23.21 per cent and 23.18 per cent respectively.

First National Murray Bridge principal Sylvia Presepio said the sharp increase over the past 12 months in her town was simply the market catching up.

“Rents had been low up here for a long time so what we are seeing is some of that overdue catch-up that we’ve seen across the rest of the state,” she said.

Sylvia Presepio and Jack Jacobs of First National Murray Bridge. Pictured on April 25th 2024. Picture: Ben Clark

“We have a shortage of homes up here as investors sell out, and that’s pushing the rents up.

“We’re also seeing a lot of Hills residents move up here chasing that affordability and they’re able to spend more on rent, so it’s quite competitive up here.”

Ms Presepio said despite the sharp rise in median rent over the past year, rentals were still within reach of locals.

“They’re not necessarily unaffordable yet on the whole, but within certain areas of our community there are some that are feeling the pinch,” she said.

“We are careful about how we implement increases to make sure people can still afford them.

“That rate of growth is starting to slow down – I think we’ll go up a bit yet and then probably maintain, I don’t see us going backwards.”

In terms of quarterly growth, Whyalla houses, in the state’s Iron Triangle, experienced the greatest increase in median rent, up 11.43 per cent or $40, to $390 from the $350 recorded the previous quarter.

The median weekly rent for Salisbury Heights houses has increased by 8.91 per cent over the past quarter, while both Tranmere houses and Parkside units, in Adelaide’s east and south respectively, were up by 8.33 per cent.

Mark Lloyd of Harris Real Estate. Supplied

Harris Real Estate’s Mark Lloyd, who specialises in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, said he expected to see weekly rents in the area continue to increase.

“Supply and demand are well out of whack, and that’s driving up sale prices and rents.

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“I expect we’ll continue to see some growth yet in both sales prices and weekly rents, albeit not necessarily at the rate we have seen in recent years.

“Vacancy rates are very tight, and there’s no indication that that’s going to change any time soon.”