Aussies now paying $32k extra a year in rent as cost of living crisis worsens

Australian renters in some suburbs have seen prices soar lately, with some paying as much as $32,000 extra every year to keep a roof over their heads.

Renters in some areas are now being forced to spend an extra $32,500 a year to keep a roof over their heads, as the cost of living crisis worsens.

Strong demand for housing and a limited supply of homes have caused a soar in the price of rentals, with some charging tenants an extra $600 a week.

In Rose Bay, NSW, about 8 km east of Sydney, has experienced a $625 increase in rental prices, with homes in the area now costing $2000 a week.

In nearby Vaucluse, the median weekly rental price is sitting at $3000, and Darling Point unit prices have shot up another $200 to an average of $1050 a week.

Rose Bay rental prices have skyrocketed to $2000 per week. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

In Queensland, Clear Island Waters on the Gold Coast has had a $500 increase, with weekly rent payments now at an average of $3000.

A unit in nearby Main Beach, previously cost renters an average of $550 per week, but has now risen to $750.

Other suburbs with significant rent increases include Paradise Point, Surfers Paradise and Sunshine Beach in Queensland, and Pagewood, North Bondi, Queens Park and Haymarket in the suburbs of Sydney.

“The reason we’re seeing really increased growth in rents across the country at the moment it really comes down to they’re just not being very many rentals available,” PropTrack economist Angus Moore said.

“We’re probably likely to see rents continue to pick up for a little while.

Properties on the Gold Coast are charging up to $3000 per week. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Steve Holland

“We are seeing more new rental properties and we’re seeing fewer sales by investors than we were during the pandemic, so that means the number of rental properties is growing but the number of new properties in any given month is pretty small relative to the size of the rental market. So it’s an adjustment that will take a while to kind of have a material impact.”

Mr Moore said the government’s rental assistance raise for low income earners will see access to help for those who most need it.

“I think it‘s the right lever for governments to be pulling, I think it’s at least going in the right direction on that front,” he said.