When it comes to major expenses, the cost of housing is right up there. According to MoneySmart, in every Australian state except Tasmania the cost of housing is the biggest household expense. Whether it's mortgage payments or rent, these costs add up for all of us.
The next biggest expense is transport - which, on average, Tasmanians pay more for than housing. The Northern Territory registered the highest costs for both housing and transport, while South Australia had the lowest transport-related expenditure per household. Tasmanians paid the least for their housing.
The cost of houses for rent across Australia
The most recent Quarterly Rent Review has been released by CoreLogic RP Data and the findings are just as interesting for renters as they are for investors. If you're looking for the most affordable rentals in town or a middle-of-the-road solution, read on to find out more.
If you seek a cheap rental house in a capital city in Australia, the best places to look would be Hobart, with a median weekly rent of $343, followed by Adelaide at $350. Surprisingly, Melbourne is the only other capital city to sit below the national average of $400 per week at a low $385.
Over the last quarter, the national increase in rents was 1.3 per cent. This is mostly reflected by a large increase in the cost of rental real estate in Hobart (5.4 per cent per week) and Brisbane (2.5 per cent). Most of the rest of the country stayed flat, but Perth and Darwin actually became more affordable, by 2.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
Perth and Darwin were the only cities to record a quarterly drop as well as an annual decrease in the cost of rent. On average over the last five years, the cities with the lowest rent rises have been Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne. Darwin and Perth had the highest five year averages, but this seems to have been correcting itself recently. The next highest was Sydney, followed by Brisbane and Adelaide.
Looking to rent an apartment or unit?
Units tend to be cheaper to rent than houses in the same area, but the national average unit figure was only $10 cheaper per week than houses, according to CoreLogic RP Data's figures.
It's quite possible that this narrow difference occurs because regional towns and rural settings have cheaper freestanding homes for rent, but obviously don't provide much in the way of apartments, slightly skewing the average. When looking at capital cities alone, the median rent for a unit is $20 lower than the cost of a house.
You might expect the most expensive rentals to be real estate in Sydney, but the Harbour City only comes in at second place at $495 per week. The most expensive units are in fact found in Darwin, which has a median price tag of $550 per week.
The same rankings apply to growth in rent prices - with Sydney at 4.4 per cent annually on average for the last five years, and Darwin at 5 per cent.
The cheaper units are found in the same cities as the cheaper houses. In Hobart people can expect to be charged only $280 for a week's tenancy, and only $300 in Adelaide. The national average is elevated by Sydney and Darwin, as the most of the country sits below the $400 average for the combined capitals.
Perth is the only exception at $430, while Brisbane came in at $390, Canberra at $380, Melbourne at $360.
With rental increases in the market for both houses and units in some cities exceeding the rate of inflation, it's possible a lot of renters will be looking at home loans and home ownership as a viable alternative.
