Revealed: 26 Qld suburbs where rent is now cheaper

Renting has become cheaper in only 26 Queensland suburbs in the past year, as the severity of the state’s housing crisis is laid bare. SEARCH FOR YOUR SUBURB.

Renting has become cheaper in only 26 Queensland suburbs in the past year, as the severity of the state’s housing crisis is laid bare.

The median unit rent fell in just seven suburbs, and remained unchanged in seven of the 860 Queensland suburbs analysed by PropTrack.

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Rents for houses in Surfers Paradise have become slightly cheaper in the past year, according to PropTrack.

It was slightly better for houses, with the annual median house rent dropping in 19 suburbs, and remaining the same in 24 suburbs.

The majority of locations where rents have become more affordable or unchanged are in coastal areas.

This five-bedroom house at 5 Seagull Ave, Aroona, is available to rent for $850/week.

The biggest annual fall in house rents was recorded in Aroona on the Sunshine Coast, where

the median house rent is $100 a week cheaper than it was a year ago at $700.

Houses are also more afforable to rent in Surfers Paradise, although tenants were already paying through the roof at $1,473 a week. That’s dropped to $1,300 a week.

This four-bedroom house at 25 Sunrise Blvd, Surfers Paradise, is available to rent for $1,200/week.

In Moffat Beach, the median house rent is now $55 a week cheaper at $680.

Beerwah, also on the Sunshine Coast, saw the largest annual drop in unit rents, with the cost of leasing a unit now $50 cheaper on average than it was at the start of last year.

And, in the popular suburb of Peregian Beach, weekly unit rents are now on average $50 a week more affordable than they were a year ago at $600.

PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said the exodus to coastal areas after the pandemic had pushed up prices for buyers and renters on the Gold and Sunshine coasts, but like home prices, rents were starting to ease in some suburbs.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore.

But he said strong interstate and overseas migration would continue to keep vacancy rates tight and rents high.

“South East Queensland broadly has been really popular for both buyers and renters, with a lot of people moving from Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Moore said. a

“That’s manifesting in incredibly low vacancy rates in Brisbane and regional Queensland.”

Prior to the pandemic, the median time on market for a rental in Queensland was four weeks. That has now almost halved to 18 days, according to PropTrack.

“The silver lining is rents didn’t grow as quickly in 2023 as they did in 2022,” Mr Moore said. “It’s far from certain if we’ll see that transpire this year.”