Brisbane’s ten best rental suburbs in 2024, for houses and units

With rent still on the rise across the country, here are the ten best spots in Brisbane to get ahead of the renting game.

While rent price growth has slowed in the past year, the cost of renting remains significantly higher compared with pre-pandemic times. Renters are facing tough conditions, however, there are still suburbs close to the city with affordable rental properties available.

According to recent data from PropTrack, national weekly rents rose by 7% in the past year, reaching $620 in November. This was just half the growth rate of the prior year, marking a slowdown in market conditions.

PropTrack’s Economic Analyst Megan Lieu has found the most affordable suburbs to rent in while staying close to the CBD.

In Brisbane, annual rent growth was only 5% from November 2023 until November 2024, which was half the rate recorded in the same period a year earlier.

While the slowing of growth offers some relief for renters in the city who have had to endure substantial rent rises, weekly rents are still 1.5 times higher than February 2020.

Finding an affordable property has become more difficult, but homes in a number of inner-ring suburbs, those within the closest third in terms of distance to the CBD, still offer reasonably priced options.

For suburbs within 10kms of the Brisbane CBD, Rocklea, Chermside and Hemmant had the cheapest rental houses, where weekly median rents were $533, $565 and $610 per week, respectively.

Salisbury and Lutwyche were also affordable with median house rents less than $625 per week.

Kedron, Wilston and Greenslopes topped the list for the most affordable rental units among inner-ring suburbs. The cost of renting a unit was $483, $500 and $500 per week respectively.

Units in Wooloowin and Lutwyche had weekly rents of $500 as well.

Annual rent growth has slowed over the past year, but still remains much higher than pre-pandemic times.

The increase of rental stock has been one key factor easing rental conditions. Since November 2023, total rental listings have risen by 7.1%. This is likely due to a return of investors and more people opting to purchase their first home instead of renting.

However, on a historic basis, demand is high and supply remains low. As cost-of-living pressures mount and rent growth continues to outpace wage growth, more people will seek out cheaper rentals which could result in stronger price increases in budget-friendly areas.

This will further decrease the availability of affordable rentals.

To ensure that all Australians have access to affordable housing, it is crucial that the government prioritises building more well-located homes to meet the demands of our growing population.

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Author Megan Lieu is an Economic Analyst for REA Group’s appraiser service, PropTrack.

Originally published as Brisbane’s ten best rental suburbs in 2024, for houses and units