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Can you believe another quarter has come and gone? To mark the occasion, we’re back with your quarterly rental market update – and this time, we actually have good news for renters.
According to Domain’s September Quarter 2026 Rent Report, Australian capital city rent growth has hit a standstill. House rents remained at $700 per week, while unit rents increased a mere 1.5 per cent ($10) to $690 – even despite severe rental shortages across the country.
While annual rent growth remains positive in every Aussie capital – up 7.7 per cent for houses and 6.2 per cent for units – the surge is slowing. The latest figures largely reflect spikes from earlier in 2026, rather than recent market conditions.
Now, we’ve got good news for renters in Sydney and Canberra. They were the only two capitals to record a drop in house rents last quarter. Sydney house rents fell 0.6 per cent ($5) to $835 per week, marking their first quarterly decline since December 2024. Meanwhile, Canberra’s house rents dipped 1.4 per cent ($10) to $700 a week, reversing gains made in the June quarter.
It’s smooth sailing for renters in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth too. House and unit prices remained stagnant, despite the latter three cities having some of the lowest vacancy rates with fewer rental properties on the market than last year. This challenges the long-held relationship between tight rental supply and rental growth.
Darwin was the only Aussie capital where rents rose across both property types, with house rents rising 5.3 per cent ($40) to a record $800 per week and unit rents rising 0.4 per cent ($2) to $650 per week.
Domain chief residential economist Dr Nicola Powell said, “Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth all have fewer rental properties available than a year ago, vacancy rates remain exceptionally low, yet asking rents were unchanged.
"For the past few years, low supply has consistently pushed rents higher. This quarter suggests affordability is beginning to act as a ceiling on rental growth, even while rental supply remains severely constrained.”
Down south, Hobart house rents held at a record $625 per week – finally ending seven straight quarters of price increases. Unit rents, however, increased a marginal 1.0 per cent ($5) over the quarter to hit a new record of $525 per week, making Hobart the only other capital alongside Darwin to record any rental growth.