Unexpected Brisbane suburb where renting a room now costs $550 a week

Brisbane rents have soared to fresh record highs, making the city the outright second-most expensive in the country to rent a unit, behind Sydney, as tenants battle one of the longest rent rise streaks in the capital’s history.

Domain’s latest Rent Report, released on Thursday, shows median asking rents for a unit climbed to $615 a week, up $15 a week over the March quarter.

House rents also rose, hitting a new peak of $650 per week following a $10 rise in three months.

But there’s a glimmer of hope for renters on the horizon.

The relentless price rises, which have hammered tenants every quarter for more than four years, are slowing, with growth now at its weakest pace since 2021 for houses and since 2022 for units.

Vacancy rates, meanwhile, nudged up to 0.8 per cent. A balanced rental market is about 3 per cent.

Brisbane rents have soared.Credit: Courtney Kruk

“It’s still absolutely a landlord’s market because there are lot of reasons fuelling temporary rental demand … but conditions are finally easing,” said Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell.

“Because of the Games there’s a hell of a lot of infrastructure being built that’s bringing trades to the area … and that’s before the announcement that a new (63,000 capacity) stadium will be built.

“But I think with the pain of inflation and the cost of living something has had to give and that has become very evident in the rental space. People reach an affordability ceiling.”

She said investor activity was surging in Queensland, drawn by high yields and strong capital growth with data showing investors now make up 37.9 per cent of home loans, a figure far higher than the city’s decade average.

“That’s a big historical shift. And I think overall 2025 is going to be better than 2024 and 2023 for tenants. We are slowly seeing rental balance coming back,” said Powell.

Some relief is already showing, with rents in Brisbane’s east and north SA4 regions slightly declining over the quarter, alongside several SA3 pockets recording a price plateau. But Powell warned pressure would remain in key suburbs.

Among the hot spots revealed in the Domain report was Sandgate, which collected the biggest annual price hike for units, with weekly rents swelling 26.4 per cent to a median $443, followed by Mount Gravatt, up 20.4 per cent to $620.

Herston followed close behind, up 20 per cent to $600. For houses, Teneriffe overtook Ascot to become Brisbane’s priciest suburb, with median weekly rents rising 15.8 per cent to $1100. Ascot dropped 2.4 per cent to $1000.

On the SA3 level, inner Brisbane house rents surged 6.7 per cent over the quarter to $800 a week, while units in the Rocklea–Acacia Ridge pocket jumped 5.5 per cent to $580.

It’s in these outer suburbs that a new rental model is booming: ‘rooming houses’.

Adam Nobel, of Hugo Alexander Property Group, said demand for rooming houses – or high-quality, fully furnished rooms with en suites and utilities included – had exploded across Acacia Ridge, driving record-high rents.

“We are achieving record high prices now - up to $550 a week for one room,” Nobel said.

“And we’re renting to doctors and nurses, especially around the QEII hospital, and fly-in-fly-out workers.

“It’s absolutely booming there.”

He said the shortage of 15,000 to 30,000 rental properties citywide, ongoing migration, and the Olympic-led infrastructure spree meant demand had spilled out of traditional blue-chip suburbs.

“Tenants are saying they can’t live in Bardon and Paddington, so they’re going further out to places like Rocklea and Acacia Ridge,” Nobel said.

Nobel said the co-living trend was another hallmark of Brisbane’s rental crunch.

“We’ve never seen so many people applying for leases together,” he said.

In blue-chip inner suburbs like New Farm, demand for premium rentals has slowed. Kelsey Smith, investments and leasing executive at Living Here Cush Partners, said there the days of queues down the street and rent bidding wars were over.

“The cost-of-living increase means people are getting more conservative,” she said.

“Instead of a three-bedroom rental, they’re opting for two bedrooms … and for properties over $700 per week, it’s getting tougher.

“We had a five-bedroom home in Teneriffe that was rented out for $2200 per week last year. We relisted it recently and it sat online for 100 days. We eventually rented it out for $1700 per week.”

Smith said the biggest challenge was managing landlord expectations, particularly among those still chasing 2021’s peak rents.

While the premium market has softened, the bottom end remains fiercely competitive.

“The lower end of the market is getting smashed,” said Place Graceville property investment consultant Michael Groth.

“That’s essentially the two-bedroom apartment sector below $600 a week. There is a huge amount of people seeking rentals in that bracket. .”