The quarterly RentRabbit.com.au Better Renting Report identifies Australia's top 20 suburbs within 200km of the capital city CBD and where vacancy rates have increased in the last 12 months. 

All 20 suburbs featured have also seen median weekly rents fall or remain unchanged over the last year. 

Victoria dominated the latest quarterly ranking, with 10 suburbs on the top 20 list, while New South Wales had seven and the ACT three.

RentRabbit.com.au co-founder Ben Pretty said the research shows up the two-tier nature of Australia’s rental market.

"The RentRabbit.com.au Better Renting Report highlights that renters are able to find tenant-friendly suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, but are really struggling to find suitable locations in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin,” he said.

“This is all about supply and demand. Where supply is relatively low and demand relatively high, it’s hard for tenants to find accommodation, which leads to falling vacancy rates and rising rents.

“For the sake of families and people on average incomes, I’d like to see a more balanced rental market. For that to happen, supply needs to increase, which means we need more investors to enter the market and more new builds to come online.”

RentRabbit top 20 suburbs

Rank

State

Suburb

Property type

Vacancy rate (1 year ago)

Vacancy rate (now)

Vacancy rate (change)

Median rent

1

VIC

Derrimut

House

1.2%

10.3%

9.2 percentage points

$350

2

VIC

Mount Duneed

House

2.4%

7.1%

4.7 percentage points

$420

3

NSW

West Pymble

House

1.8%

5.5%

3.7 percentage points

$850

4

ACT

Campbell

Unit

4.9%

8.5%

3.6 percentage points

$550

5

ACT

Hughes

House

0.8%

4.1%

3.3 percentage points

$650

6

NSW

Girraween

Unit

1.7%

4.0%

2.3 percentage points

$450

7

NSW

Heckenberg

House

0.0%*

2.0%

2.0 percentage points

$380

8

VIC

Coolaroo

House

3.0%

5.0%

2.0 percentage points

$350

9

NSW

Pendle Hill

House

2.6%

4.5%

1.9 percentage points

$450

10

NSW

Cabramatta West

House

2.1%

3.9%

1.8 percentage points

$450

11

VIC

Dingley Village

Unit

0.9%

2.6%

1.7 percentage points

$450

12

NSW

Berala

Unit

2.2%

3.7%

1.5 percentage points

$320

13

ACT

McKellar

House

1.5%

3.0%

1.5 percentage points

$610

14

NSW

Emu Plains

Unit

1.1%

2.6%

1.5 percentage points

$420

15

VIC

Bannockburn

House

1.5%

2.9%

1.4 percentage points

$430

16

VIC

Notting Hill

Unit

2.0%

3.2%

1.2 percentage points

$350

17

VIC

Campbellfield

House

1.9%

3.1%

1.2 percentage points

$380

18

VIC

Kingsville

House

1.4%

2.6%

1.2 percentage points

$520

19

VIC

Oak Park

Unit

2.7%

3.7%

1.0 percentage points

$390

20

VIC

Ivanhoe East

House

2.1%

3.1%

1.0 percentage points

$650

To ensure suburbs were suitable for renters and conditions had turned in favour of renters over the past 12 months, suburbs were excluded if:

  • There were fewer than 1,000 properties or rental properties made up less than 10% of the local housing stock
  • There were fewer than 3 vacant rental properties
  • They were in non-commutable locations (i.e more than 200km from the capital city
    CBD)
  • The median weekly rent had increased over the past 12 months
  • The vacancy rate had increased by less than 1 percentage point over the past 12
    months

Image by Image4you via Pixabay



Ready, Set, Buy!


Learn everything you need to know about buying property – from choosing the right property and home loan, to the purchasing process, tips to save money and more!

With bonus Q&A sheet and Crossword!

Download Free
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy