Bottom of Sydney’s rental market almost level with prices in the middle of Melbourne’s market

RENTS on Sydney’s cheapest properties are drawing close to the typical prices Melbourne tenants pay for middle of the road properties.

Anna-Marie Phillips and her son Levi lived in and out of house shares because she couldn't afford to rent her own place outright. Picture: Adam Taylor

RENTS on Sydney’s cheapest properties have come in striking distance of the typical prices Melbourne tenants pay for middle of the road properties.

Core Logic research revealed Carramar, in the Fairfield region, was Sydney’s cheapest suburb to rent a unit, with median rent at $310 per week.

This was $70 below the $380 per week required to rent a median-priced apartment across Melbourne. Carramar’s median rent is also $10 higher than Adelaide’s median rent of $300 per week for a unit.

Real estate experts said the Harbour City’s low supply of available properties looked poised to spike rents in the coming months. The increase would further erode the gap between the bottom of Sydney’s rental market and Melbourne’s middle.

Apartments in this building on Sandle Crescent in Carramar typically rent for about $300 per week or higher.

Once cheaper suburbs have already recorded major upward shifts in rental prices, especially in Sydney’s far west and southwest.

Typical rent on houses in Orchard Hill, near Penrith, jumped 27 per cent in the 12 months to October, while in Liverpool suburb Austral, average rents went up 18 per cent. Average rent in Canterbury suburb Lakemba bounced up 15 per cent.

Rental prices also grew in Mount Druitt, the subject of the controversial documentary Struggle Street, where typical rent on a detached house has reached $410.

Median rent on a detached house in Melbourne is $400.

This two-bedroom unit on Wattle Ave in Carramar rents for $380 per week.

LJ Hooker’s head of real estate-Australia Chris Mourd said Sydney rents have soared above Melbourne’s, despite the cities’ similar size and population, because of a chronic housing shortage.

“Demand for quality homes close to amenities is high, but there aren’t many of these homes available. That’s true of both the rental market and buying market,” Mr Mourd said.

Low supply, coupled with high demand, will put continued pressure on rental prices to increase in pockets of the city, he added.

Rent on Sydney’s most expensive properties are among the highest in the world. This Tamarama unit rents for nearly $2000 per week.

Cheaper, well-located suburbs will attract the most demand, pushing up rents, because many tenants have been priced out of more expensive areas, Mr Mourd said.

It’s a sobering thought for tenants who are already struggling to find affordable rental properties.

Single mum Anna-Marie Phillips said she’s had to raise her son in house shares for years because she couldn’t afford her own place.

She has finally moved into a home where she doesn’t need to share, but only through the help of a rental assistance program from City West Housing.

“Sydney rents are disgraceful,” she said. “If you can’t afford to buy, you have to rent, but the more affordable places on offer, which still aren’t cheap, are mostly terrible. More people are going to need help if rents keep going up.”

SYDNEY CHEAPEST SUBURBS TO RENT (by median weekly rent on units)

Carramar $310

Bradbury $310

Ambarvale $320

Willmot $330

Cabramatta $330

Canley Vale $330

Blackett $340

Leumeah $340

Kingswood $340

Werrington $345

Originally published as Bottom of Sydney’s rental market almost level with prices in the middle of Melbourne’s market