‘Breaking point’: Melbourne rents hit record highs – again

Melbourne’s median asking rent for a unit has risen by $25 a week over the past year, putting more pressure on tenants already reeling from almost four years of rent hikes.

The asking rent for a typical unit is now $575 per week, 4.5 per cent more than it was a year ago, Domain’s latest Rent Report for the March quarter shows.

The median house rent is $10 a week higher than a year ago at $580 per week, although in a glimmer of hope for tenants, house rents stabilised over the past three months.

Melbourne rents reached their trough in winter 2021 when COVID lockdown delayed young adults from moving out of home, blocked international students and made it harder for landlords to ask for more money, given some tenants’ reduced incomes.

Back then, the typical unit could be rented for $370 a week, and the median house for $430, enabling some households to turn spare bedrooms into home offices.

Since the city reopened, rents have soared, first at a double-digit annual pace and then more slowly as renters adjusted by taking on more housemates or moving back home.

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