Darwin rents Australia’s priciest

Darwin is the most expensive capital city to rent property, new research has found.

According to the latest RP Data research, houses are most expensive to rent in Darwin with a median advertised weekly rent of $520. Canberra is the second most expensive city with rents of $495/week followed by Sydney at $450/week.

The most affordable capital city in which to rent a houses is Adelaide ($320/week) followed by Hobart ($325/week).

Within the unit market Darwin is the most expensive city for rents ($430/week) followed by Sydney ($425/week) and Canberra ($400/week). Hobart units are the cheapest to rent within a capital city ($278/week) followed by Adelaide at $280/week.

Over the last five years the weekly rent on a unit both nationally and within the capital city markets increased by more than that of houses.

RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher said that this result reflects the growth in demand for units as lifestyle preferences change and affordability pressures increase.

“Growth rates across house and unit rental markets are still well below the average annual level of rental growth recorded at 7.0 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively. In recent times unit rental markets have been outperforming houses,” he said.