Horrifying new figures show rent in regional Qld has escalated to the third highest in Australia – leaving Brisbane behind.

It now costs more to be a renter in regional Queensland than Brisbane, the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report has found with median advertised rent rising to $625 a week – as the hot Gold and Sunshine Coasts power away from the capital, and powerhouses like Cairns and Townsville continue to boom.

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The regional data was driven by units seeing an 11.1pc surge in the past year to sit just $50 a week lower than houses there – $600/wk and $650/wk respectively – taking their overall dwelling median to just $25 lower than Perth’s $650 and $105 behind Sydney ($730).

This after Brisbane saw rents teeter over negative growth territory in the past quarter, with PropTrack head of research Cameron Kusher seeing an easing of rental market pressures across the capital.

“The pace of rental price growth has slowed in Brisbane, with rental prices for houses (-0.3pc) and units (-0.9pc) dipping slightly over the quarter.”

Brisbane’s median advertised rent was now $620 a week, $5 below the Queensland regions.

“They were 6.9 per cent higher than September 2023, which marked the weakest annual growth since March 2021” for Brisbane, Mr Kusher said.

“Brisbane house rents rose by 8pc, or $48, over the year to sit at $648 per week, outperforming unit rent growth of 5.5pc, or $30, over the year to sit at $580 per week.”

Nine statistical regions in Queensland were seeing higher levels of median advertised rent for houses than Queensland’s overall medians – three of which were in the regions led by a massive $875 a week on the Gold Coast, $750 a week on the Sunshine Coast and $650 a week in Cairns.

Parts of Greater Brisbane where rents were above the state medians were houses in the Inner City $820 a week, $770 a week in Brisbane’s West, $700 a week in Brisbane East as well as South, $680 a week in Brisbane North and $650 a week in Moreton Bay South.

The Gold Coast was a big part of the reason regional Queensland figures soared above Brisbane for overall rent prices – rising 8.8 per cent in the past year to $780 a week – the highest in the state for apartments. The Sunshine Coast was second with $700 a week after a 7.7pc annual jump.

The five areas of Brisbane that continued to drive strong median advertised rent levels were West up 6.9pc to $695, East up 4.6pc to $680, Inner City up 3.8pc to $675, South up 4pc to $650 and North 5pc to $630.

According to the data, five areas were still seeing median advertised rent below $500 a week: Townsville ($495 a week – though it has jumped 12.5pc in the past year; Toowoomba $490/wk up 8.9pc; Central Queensland $490 up 8.9pc; Darling Downs-Maranoa $400/wk up 8.1pc; and Queensland Outback $380/wk up 2.7pc.

The findings come as Mortgage Brokers AU CEO Shaun McGowan warned Brisbane renters were now facing the longest wait of all capitals to build up a home loan deposit.

His research found Brisbane had an affordability score of 5.77 out of 10 with over 34 per cent of the city’s weekly salary of $1,845 consumed by rent.

Perth renters, who were seeing the second median rents of all Australia’s capitals and regions in PropTrack’s figures, were facing the best conditions of the capitals to save for a home loan deposit due to their higher salary levels.

Mr McGowan said it was a challenging period for homebuyers, with rents high and a severe shortage of new homes, suggesting renters create detailed budgets, track expenses and cut back wherever possible on spending.

“If feasible, relocating to a more affordable city could accelerate your savings, though it involves its challenges.”

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