The surprising Australian suburbs where it’s extremely hard to find a place to rent

Australia’s hardest suburbs to find a place to rent are all outside Sydney and Melbourne – with most of these areas having virtually no properties available.

Launceston in northern Tasmania, the NSW mid-north Coast, Adelaide’s north, Victoria’s east coast and regional Tasmania dominate a top 20 list of areas with extremely tight vacancy rates.

RentRabbit ranked suburbs with household incomes well below the national median where prospective tenants were desperate for somewhere to live.

They all had a rental vacancy rate well below one per cent in March 2022 where a property had not found a tenant after 21 days on the market.

Ben Pretty, the co-founder of RentRabbit, said many tenants in poorer areas could no longer afford to pay the rent as surging demand pushed up leasing costs by double-digit annual margins.

‘Many Australians are being faced with a triple whammy – they live in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, they have low household incomes and it’s incredibly hard for them to find rental accommodation,’ he said.

‘Some of these renters are living in suburbs that have a vacancy rate of zero per cent, which means rental properties are being snapped up the moment they become vacant.’

Rocherlea, in Launceston’s north, had Australia’s lowest rental vacancy rate of zero per cent where available properties were effectively leased straight away.

A year ago, it’s rental vacancy rate was 2.9 per cent.

Its median weekly household income of $627 was less than half the national mid-point of $1,438, based on 2016 Census data.

Launceston’s north had two entries on the top 20 list, with Ravenswood coming in at number 13 also, with a zero vacancy rate.

Venus Bay, on Victoria’s east coast, was second with a rental vacancy rate of zero and a median household income of just $677.

Elizabeth South in Adelaide’s north was fourth on the list with a rental vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent and a median household income of $696. Adelaide’s north had four places in the list with Elizabeth North in fifth place, Elizabeth Vale at No. 11 and Davoren Park (duplex pictured) at No. 17.

Victoria’s east coast, also known as the Gippsland region, had three spots on the list, including Golden Beach at No. 3 and Wonthaggi at No. 18.

Elizabeth South in Adelaide’s north was fourth on the list with a rental vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent and a median household income of $696.

Adelaide’s north had four places in the list with Elizabeth North in fifth place, Elizabeth Vale at No. 11 and Davoren Park at No. 17.

Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast was sixth on the list with a rental vacancy rate of zero and a mid-point household income of $703.

Port Pirie West, on Spencer Gulf north-west of Adelaide, was seventh with a rental vacancy rate of zero of a median household income of $712.

Laurieton (pictured), south of Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid-North Coast, was ninth with a rental vacancy rate of 0.7 per cent and a median household income of $716

Bundaberg Central, in Queensland’s Wide Bay-Burnett region north of Brisbane, was eighth with a rental vacancy rate of zero, a dramatic fall from 10.5 per cent a year ago, and a median household income of $714.

Laurieton, south of Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast, was ninth with a rental vacancy rate of 0.7 per cent and a median household income of $716.

It was one of four towns on the NSW mid-north coast to make the list along with Nambucca Heads, south of Coffs Harbour at number 15, Tuncurry next to Forster at 16, and West Kempsey north of Port Macquarie at 19. 

Shorewell Park, in the northern Tasmanian city of Burnie, rounded out the top ten with a rental vacancy rate of zero and a typical household income of $721.