The cost to rent a house in some of Perth’s most in-demand school catchment areas has ballooned over the past year, with some suburbs now costing more than $1000 per week.
The western suburbs in the catchment for Shenton College, the state’s biggest school, had the highest median weekly costs in the first quarter of 2025, according to Domain’s latest Rent Report; Dalkeith, City Beach, Mount Claremont, Swanbourne, Floreat, Nedlands and Cottesloe all commanded a median cost of more than $1000 a week.
North Fremantle is also in the catchment for Shenton College, but teens who live there can also attend John Curtin College of the Arts, Melville Senior High School and Fremantle College, and the median rent is $950 per week.
Churchlands and Wembley Downs, in the Churchlands Senior High School catchment, have a median weekly rent of $1100, reflecting a record 55 per cent increase in price in the past year for Churchlands, the highest increase in the metropolitan area.
Suburbs in the catchments for Applecross and Rossmoyne senior high schools were also high on the cost list, but none were over $1000.
The median rental asking price for a house across Perth rose 3 per cent, or $20 a week to $690 in the March quarter.
Domain also provided data on the increases in median costs over the past five years.
In 2020, Bob Hawke College opened to help relieve enrolment pressures on Churchlands and the suburbs rezoned into its catchment have recorded significant price spikes since.
Most notably, Joondanna has recorded an 83 per cent increase in median rent since 2020 although remains reasonably affordable compared to other areas at $650 per week.
The median rental prices in Mount Hawthorn and Northbridge, both now also in the new catchment, have increased by more than 70 per cent each since 2020.
The increases over the past five years could result in some families being priced out of the local catchments and students being forced to change schools.
But principals have the option of considering individual family circumstances and enrolment numbers at the school, and can decide whether there is capacity for a student to stay on if their family has moved.
Real Estate Institute of WA president Suzanne Brown said the rate of annual rental price growth had declined significantly overall.
“With population growth slowing, marginally easing the demand for rental property, we can expect this to continue,” she said.
“Competition for properties in some suburbs is still high and these areas continue to record moderate rent price growth while other areas have seen their median weekly rent price decline over the year.”
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