A rental market update – Spring 2025
Between rising rents and a shrinking vacancy rate, the market’s been pretty tough for renters over the past couple of years. And there’s a number of factors that have been driving that trend.
So as we head into spring 2025, let’s take a look at what’s happening in the rental market along with the forces behind that data.
Vacancy rate
Australia’s rental vacancy rate has been sitting below the norm for quite some time now and that’s putting pressure on rental prices.
In a balanced market, the vacancy rate is about 3 per cent, but as of July 2025 the vacancy rate has fallen again and is sitting at 1.2 per cent, according to SQM Research.
This represents a tightening of the market with the vacancy rate down from 1.3 per cent in June, 2025 and also July 2024.
SQM Research notes this drop leaves just 37,863 rental vacancies nationwide, compared to 39,027 last month and 39,701 a year ago.
As for which capitals are feeling the pressure the most, it’s the smaller ones.
Darwin has a vacancy rate of just 0.5 per cent, followed by Hobart 0.6 per cent, Perth 0.7 per cent, Adelaide 0.8 per cent, and Brisbane 0.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, Sydney and Canberra have vacancy rates of 1.5 per cent and Melbourne is sitting at 1.8 per cent.
Advertised rents
SQM Research also offers an insight into weekly advertised rents, with data from the week ending August 12 indicating that prices have increased in every capital city over the past year.
In Sydney, the average advertised weekly rent for a house was $1076.91 on August 12 (up 5.1 per cent on the year prior) while the average advertised weekly rent for a unit was $710.96 (up 2.5 on the year prior).
In Melbourne, houses were $768.72 per week (up 4.1 per cent on the same time last year) while units were $575.64 (up 3.3 per cent).
In Brisbane, August 12 saw houses sitting at $776.79 (up 4.7 per cent on the year prior) while units were $611.46 (up 6.6 per cent).
In Perth, houses were sitting at $828.82 (up $6.2 per cent) while units were $650.39 (up 4.4 per cent).
In Adelaide, houses were sitting at $669.07 (up 1.8 per cent) while units were $526.75 (up 5.3 per cent).
In Hobart, houses were sitting at $583.31 (up 9.2 per cent) while units were $503.32 (up 8.8 per cent).
In Canberra, houses were sitting at $774.37 (down 0.8 per cent) while units were $563.12 (up 4.4 per cent).
In Darwin, houses were sitting at $777.53 (up 14.2 per cent) while units were $563.12 (up 4.1 per cent).
Meanwhile, nationally, as of August 12, houses had an average weekly advertised rent of $723 (up 4.5 per cent) while units had an advertised weekly rent of $569 (up 4.6 per cent).
Key takeaways
The market remains tough for renters with the vacancy rate again falling and rental prices on the up.
Spring could further impact the market with its typical increase in properties for sale, some of which will potentially be investors selling to owner occupiers, which results in further reducing the rental pool.
