Rental crisis bites: Hobart reduced to six affordable suburbs – realestate.com.au

There are only six Hobart suburbs where house renters can spend less than $500 a week to have a roof over their heads.

PropTrack data shows that homes in Gagebrook and Herdsmans Cove can be rented for $450 per week, Primrose Sands for $455, or Bridgewater for $470.

The average rent in New Norfolk is $490 and in Risdon Vale it is $495.

On realestate.com.au, Herdsmans Cove had just two houses for rent last week. There were four in Gagebrook and four in Risdon Vale.

Primrose Sands had three options, while Bridgewater offered just one house.

New Norfolk had five houses for rent, although two of them cost much more than $500 – one cost $575 and the other asked $650 per week.

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For $450 per week, No.67 Fisher Dr, Herdsmans Cove can be rented through 4one4 Property Co. Photo: realestate.com.au

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No.30 Plymouth Rd, Gagebrook can be rented for $520 through Fall Real Estate. Image: realestate.com.au

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The latest figures from SQM Research show Hobart has the lowest vacancy rate in Australia. In January this was only 0.4 percent.

There were 112 vacancies, down from 124 in December 2025, but up from just 95 vacancies in January 2025.

It is assumed that a healthy rental market has a vacancy rate of 3 percent. Hobart’s vacancy rate has not reached this level since April 2012, m2 figures show.

Sam Tate, head of real estate at SQM, said that unless there is a meaningful increase in new rental supply, upward pressure on rental prices is likely to continue into the first half of 2026.

In the week ending February 12, figures from SQM show a typical home in Hobart costs $597 per week to rent. This is an increase of 8 percent annually.

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Unit rental costs are not much cheaper than houses at $550 per week, while they are 16.8 percent higher than 12 months ago.

Meanwhile, Battery Point is predictably Hobart’s most expensive suburb to rent a house at $775.

This is followed by the suburbs of Sandy Bay and Dynnyrne ($750 and $720), Tranmere ($710) and Lauderdale ($675), according to PropTrack data.

Nerida Conisbee, chief economist of the Ray White Group.

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Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said renters are currently experiencing the most acute pressures in the housing system.

She said investor policy cannot be separated from rental performance; these two are directly linked.

“If investor participation decreases, rental supply tightens. If rental supply tightens, rents rise,” Conisbee said.

“Rental properties in Australia exist because investors buy them.

“Almost every rental home in the country is owned by an investor.”

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No.6 Killarney Rd, Bridgewater can be rented from TG Newton for $480 per week. Image: realestate.com.au

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No.36 South St, Battery Point looking to rent $1400 per week, at Harcourts Hobart. Image: realestate.com.au

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ABS figures show that 83 percent of rental properties are owned by private investors, almost 10 percent are state tenants and 2.6 percent are social housing.

Ms Conisbee said when investor purchases slow, the rental stock pipeline also slows.

And as they withdraw from the market, fewer properties are added to the rental pool, she said.

“Rental properties can be treated as if they simply exist, rather than being actively offered by someone,” she said.

“That ‘someone’ is an overwhelmingly small, private investor … who owns one or two properties.

“Encouraging more investment in new homes, especially new homes, increases rental supply.

“Discouraging participation [such as potential changes to capital gains tax concessions] reduces it.

“If the goal is to improve rental affordability, the policy focus should be on expanding supply.”