Australia’s national median rent reached a record $705 a week in the June quarter, according to Cotality’s rental review, as vacancy rates stayed near historic lows and renters gave up a record share of their income.
The median is the midpoint of the market, the figure at which half of all rents sit above and half below. The result is another record for the national median, and it arrives with vacancy across the country near historic lows and the share of income going to rent at about one third, a record in its own right.
The Record
Cotality’s review puts annual rental growth at about 5.9 per cent and the increase over five years at about 40.6 per cent. The two numbers measure different windows: the annual figure covers the past twelve months, while the five-year figure captures the cumulative rise that has carried the median to its current level. Both are quoted in coverage of the quarterly results, and both describe a market in which the cost of renting has moved sharply higher.
The Competing Measures
A second headline figure complicates the picture. Rent.com.au’s April 2026 rental market snapshot puts the advertised median rent at $670 a week, below the national median recorded by Cotality for the June quarter. The two measures answer different questions: the advertised median reflects the rents that landlords and agents are asking on listings in the market, while the national median follows rents across the wider stock of homes. The readings also come from different periods, so the gap between them reflects method and timing rather than a contradiction. The medians split by dwelling type as well, with apartments at $700 a week and houses at $730, both above the advertised figure.
Vacancy Near Record Lows
According to The Urban Developer’s report on the June quarter, the national vacancy rate sits around 1.6 per cent, and across the capital cities it has reached a record low of 0.7 per cent. Adelaide is the tightest of the capital markets. A vacancy rate measures the share of rental homes that stand empty and available to let, so the national reading means fewer than two homes in every hundred are on the market at a given time, and the capital city figure puts the ratio below one in a hundred. Low vacancy means fewer homes come up for rent and more applicants compete for each listing.
The City Picture
The city medians show how uneven the national figure is. Sydney’s median rent stands at $841 a week, well above the national median, and Melbourne’s sits at $641, below it. The country’s two biggest rental markets therefore sit on opposite sides of the national number. Rent.com.au’s rental market snapshot adds the supply side of the picture: advertised rental listings are running well below the five-year average. The shortfall matters because listings are the pool from which renters choose, and a market with fewer advertised homes offers tenants less choice. The snapshot uses the five-year average as its benchmark for whether listings are at normal levels.
The Affordability Line
The share of gross median income absorbed by rent has reached about one third, against 27 per cent five years ago, according to The Urban Developer’s June quarter report. Gross income is measured before tax, so the figure compares rent with earnings at their broadest level. The shift from 27 per cent to about one third has taken place over the same five years in which the national median rose about 40.6 per cent, and the two measures point to the same conclusion: rent has grown faster than the income it is measured against. It is the clearest sign of how far the market has moved, because it compares the cost of housing directly with the money available to pay it.
What Is Moving the Market
Three factors sit behind the figures, according to the same June quarter report. Construction of new housing remains weak, which limits how quickly rental supply can grow. The investor tax changes announced in the May 2026 federal budget have changed the settings for property investment, and they are part of the backdrop to the current market. In some capitals, advertised rents have hit affordability ceilings. The factors act together: construction sets how much new housing becomes available and tax settings shape the decisions of the investors who supply rental homes, while affordability ceilings mark the limit of what tenants can pay in the cities where they have been reached.
The June quarter figures leave the national median at a record, vacancy near record lows across the country, and the rental share of income at about one third. Each of the measures sits at or near the extreme of its range over the five years covered by the figures.
Related: RBA Cuts Rates to 3.85%: Relief for Borrowers, Challenges for First-Time Buyers
Sources: Cotality, https://www.cotality.com/au/insights/articles/rental-growth-accelerates-annually-as-perth-and-brisbane-close-the-gap-to-sydney; Rent.com.au, https://www.rent.com.au/blog/rental-market-snapshot-april-2026; The Urban Developer, https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/cotality-domain-rei-group-rent-june-quarter-australia
Photo: Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative – an apartment building at Coogee, Sydney. This is not a property referred to in the article.
