Rent.com.au new metric shows Melbourne as cheapest place to rent an apartment or house

Melbourne is one of the cheapest places in Australia to rent an apartment or house - but not an individual room, according to a new rental price metric by Rent.com.au.

The Rent.com.au median room price metric shows that Sydney has the highest rental prices per room at almost $250 a week, followed by Canberra, Darwin and Melbourne.

Rent.com.au CEO Greg Bader said the new price metric was a different way to look at the cost of a Rental, more accurate in a sense for people that share a home with others

“Much of the existing data about rental properties and prices is based on metrics developed for homeowners, like dwelling price. We’ve introduced the median room price metric, it goes someway to levelling the distortion around the type of property (flat, unit, house) and hope it provides another view that can be used by Australian renters,” he said.

“There are significant differences. For example, the data based on dwellings shows that it costs the same to rent per week in Perth and Melbourne. But that’s not really true. The reality is that it costs renters more than $30 extra per room in Melbourne each week.

“The difference between Adelaide and Sydney is more than $120 per room. That extra cost per room has a serious impact for families as well as people who are looking to share a home with other renters. These are the sort numbers - designed specifically for renters, not homeowners - that have so far been hidden from view.”

Mr Bader said Rent.com.au was dedicated to developing new services designed specifically for Australia’s growing number of renters.

“So much of the public discussion around real estate in Australia is focused on owning property, but there’s about 7 million people in Australia who rent their homes and we want them to be represented as well,” he said.

A recent Rent.com.au survey found that long-term security and rental affordability were two of the biggest concerns held by Australian renters, and that families were the most common kind of renters - accounting for 40 percent of tenants.

Corrabare, NSW mother of three Tabatha, 43, said she had to move further out from the city as rental prices in metro areas increased.

“I’m in a position now where I’ve got a roof over my head, but for how long?” she said.

“I’ve moved 19 times since 2006. I moved house the day my 7-year-old was born. She’s never had stability. I’ve taught my kids to respect where they live and I take care of the property, but I don’t have a chance compared to renters with no kids.”