Affordable Adelaide rental properties getting harder to find

Affordable rentals are getting harder to find across Adelaide, with new figures revealing the share of properties listed for less than $400 per week has more than halved in the past year.

Latest PropTrack data shows just 9.9 per cent of the capital’s more than 3500 rentals were listed for less than $400 per week in February.

It was substantially down on the 26.5 per cent recorded in February last year and the 55.4 per cent in March 2020.

PropTrack economic research director and report author Cameron Kusher said increasing demand for limited supply had lead to the significant drop in affordable rentals since the pandemic began.

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“If you look back to the start of the pandemic, the median rent was close to $400 per week nationally – at the start of the pandemic, the median weekly rent was $420 per week,” he said.

“It really highlights how quickly rents are going up.”

Adelaide’s median weekly rent reached $465 per week in February, which was up 13.4 per cent over the past year, while the national median weekly rent was $500 per week.

Mr Kusher said Adelaide’s northern suburbs had the most supply, yet the share of rentals listed for less than $400 per week dropped from 50.2 per cent last year to 22.8 per cent in February 2023.

He said options for those seeking an affordable rental were “thinning out”, with no real improvement in sight.

“Maybe in the regional markets we’ll see some improvement,” he said.

“Certainly in the capitals, we know there are increases in demand because people are coming back from overseas … and also because there are fewer first-home buyers at the moment.

“A massive amount of rental supply would improve things but we know that’s not likely to happen.

“We need more stock right now so getting more investors into the market is probably the fastest way to do that.”

Turner Real Estate chief executive Emma Slape echoed Mr Kusher’s comments, explaining most of the affordable properties were units or houses at least 25km from the city.

“Any time that we add something to the market that is under $500 a week, we’re completely overwhelmed with people wanting to come to the open inspection,” she said.

“Until we fix the availability of stock, we are going to see a shortage that puts pressure on prices.

“We’re just not seeing any increase in stock and increasing interest rates have made investors a little wary.

“The only thing that can change the rental market is an increase in stock, and that is a challenge.”