00:00This all really depends on whereabouts in the country you live, but if we look at the December quarter of last year, rental prices went up by 1.3%.
00:11That is also on top of the 0.9% increase that we saw during the third quarter of last year.
00:19Now if we look at the calendar year of 2025, prices went up by 5.2%.
00:25If we open that up to the past five years, numbers have gone up an incredible amount.
00:34Prices going up by 44% in that five-year period.
00:39Now that is compared to a 17.5% wage growth during this same period.
00:46People are now spending on average 33% of their pre-tax income just on rent alone, which is the highest it has ever been.
00:56If we look at the different capital cities, Hobart in that final quarter of last year, Hobart has seen the biggest increase of 2.6%, 2.5%.
01:07If you're not in Hobart, though, and you're wanting to have a bit of a sea change, it might be the place to be because that is the cheapest city to rent.
01:16The average price there is $601 a week.
01:20Darwin, for the calendar year, they saw an 8% increase or $52 a week increase in their rent.
01:29Sydney is unsurprisingly the most expensive capital city to live in.
01:33The average price for a rental is $817 a week.
01:39And spare effort for the people in the regions as well.
01:42They have seen a greater increase in prices than people in capital cities.
01:49The low supply of rental properties is what is driving these prices to continue to go up.
01:57Tim Lawless, from a research developer, had this to say a little bit earlier.
02:04Well, you've got two sides, right?
02:06You've got demand and you've got supply.
02:07So on the supply side, everybody acknowledges we need to build more.
02:11We need more rental properties.
02:12If we can't get more rental properties, then you need to have more rental assistance.
02:16On the demand side, well, we're already seeing migration coming back down to much more normal levels now.
02:21That's probably going to help take some heat out of rents over some time.
02:25There's also things like, you know, investment levels are actually quite high.
02:29But most investors are buying established homes rather than contributing new stock to the rental market.
02:34Maybe that's where some incentives need to be applied as well.
02:37So, Gemma, you might be able to hear a bit of construction noise in the background behind me.
02:42We're in the suburb of Bowdoin, just a stone's throw from the CBD.
02:46There's plenty of construction and apartments going up in this area.
02:50So they're certainly contributing to the supply.
02:53But look, if you're lucky enough to live in the suburb of Vaucluse, Gemma, you are going to be paying the highest amount of rent in the country, staggering $2,310 a week.
03:08Must be nice.
03:09Yeah, must be.
03:10Charles, thank you.
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