Australia’s rental market is in dire straits as sky-high rents combine with near-record low vacancy rates to push millions into housing stress.

But analysis published by property firm PRD has revealed which parts of the country are most affordable right now, even as rents keep rising.

The data compared median rents in a particular capital against prices in a particular suburb and the availability of properties in those areas.

It revealed Melbourne had the highest number of affordable suburbs, while finding affordable housing in smaller cities like Perth, Adelaide and Hobart was much harder.

And interestingly, PRD also compared the average rent-to-income ratio required to find a place in Australia against other capitals internationally.

That analysis found Australia’s least-affordable market, Sydney – where the rent to income ratio is 47.2 per cent – is more affordable than New York (84 per cent rent-to-income) but less than Singapore (24 per cent).

Revealing data

The PRD data revealed that the most affordable suburbs in Melbourne were Ardeer, Burnside and Coburg North.

Median rents in these areas were $380, $450 and $515 respectively, with more than 100 properties available in each area, PRD said.

In Sydney, Carlingford ($750), Granville ($540) and Wiley Park ($585) were the most affordable places to rent a house in.

Across Brisbane the suburbs of Capalaba ($590), Everton Park ($590) and Richlands ($530) were rated most affordable, though only Everton Park had more than 100 homes available.

In smaller cities rents were cheaper, but there were fewer than 50 houses available in each case.

For example, Hobart’s Warrane had a median rent of $500, but only four properties were available to rent. Glenorchy ($520) and Mount Nelson ($550) performed similarly.

In Perth, Koongamia had 121 properties with a median rent of $400, but Kenwick had just 22 properties available with a median rent of $450.

Hamilton Hill, also in Perth, had median rents of $520 with 24 homes.

Adelaide’s cheapest suburbs were Kilburn ($450), Modbury ($490) and Port Adelaide ($500) – but each had fewer than 50 homes available.

The data on most affordable suburbs to rent comes as prices in the Australian housing market rose in July.

National home values are just 5.3 per cent lower than their April 2022 peak, with Perth and Adelaide posting fresh record highs over the past month.

CoreLogic said housing demand will likely remain strong over the next few years amid “strong population growth”, with few signs yet of any significant supply response.

Domain’s latest rent report, released in early July, showed millions of renters were doing it tough amid the longest period of rent hikes on record.

Rents across Australia’s capital cities rose 2.7 per cent over the June quarter – compounding the same rise over the March quarter.

Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have racked up the longest stretch of continuous rent growth in Australian history, according to Domain’s chief of research and economics Nicola Powell.

“The colliding mismatch of heightened demand and supply side constraints has continued to place pressure on house and unit asking rents across Australia,” Dr Powell said.