Arabic version: إيجارات العواصم تتجاوز نصف صافي الدخل الوسيط

According to ABC News, renting a unit now costs more than half the median take-home pay of a single worker in every Australian capital city, based on a new report from housing advocacy group Everybody’s Home.

The group’s 2026 Priced Out report found the national average apartment rent was $614 a week. For a person earning $70,000 a year, close to Australia’s median income of $74,100, that represented 56 per cent of take-home income. The report said rents exceeded the 30 per cent housing-stress benchmark even for people on six-figure incomes.

For a worker earning $70,000, median rent in Sydney would absorb 69 per cent of weekly pay. Adelaide, identified as the cheapest capital, would still cost more than half of that worker’s income. Northern Western Australia, the Gold Coast and Sydney were the three most expensive areas to rent, followed by the Sunshine Coast and Perth.

Average rents have risen by $48 a week since the March 2025 Priced Out report, nearly $2,500 annually. Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize described the figures as a worsening crisis for renters and said people on average incomes in capital cities were spending about two-thirds of their income on average rent.

The report recommends that the Australian government commit to building 940,000 public and community homes over 15 years, limit the number and size of rent increases during tenancies, and end no-grounds evictions. Azize said federal, state and territory governments needed to focus on renters and measures to limit increases.