Sydney rental ad crams three women into one room for $780 a week – realestate.com.au

A rental listing in Sydney CBD, which sees three women crammed into a single room for $260 a week each, has exposed how far the market has stretched renters.

Three single beds crammed into one modest room, with little privacy, is the campsite in one of the most expensive zip codes in the country.

Tenant advocates say this is not unusual.

Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the NSW Tenants Union, says shared rooms aimed at students have been a fixture in the CBD for years, with young people trying to balance study and limited paid work as they look for somewhere to live.

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“Sydney CBD in particular has been targeting these shared room arrangements at students for a number of years, and it really highlights the difficulties students face in finding accommodation that supports their studies and the limited time for paid employment,” he shared. Yahoo News.

When Yahoo News took a closer look, the apartment was furnished for as many as six people.

Even more striking, the ad advertised a windowless “closet” – essentially a single bed in a storage nook with no natural light – for $380 a week, and the amounts tell the story.

Three tenants in that one bedroom would generate $780 per week.

Add in the windowless room and the landlord is looking at a gross profit of $1,160 per week for four people sharing a house.

By comparison, the average Sydney unit, which costs about $734 a week, according to PropTrack, and doesn’t require you to share a bedroom with strangers.

Some in the industry argue a ceiling is looming as more Australians reach their affordability limit.

Stacey Holt, of Stacey Holt Real Estate Excellence, has suggested that a ‘tipping point’ will force some landlords to temper expectations as budgets tighten.

“There is a certain price range that people cannot afford.”

A windowless ‘room’ also offered for $380 per week. Source: Facebook

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But Patterson Ross warns that relief seems far away. He says rents will likely continue to rise until 2026, albeit more slowly, and the pressure felt by many renters will not significantly ease.

New figures support that.

In the past week alone, Sydney house rental prices rose by an average of $14.11, pushing the average weekly bill to $1,128.89, with units close behind at $733.82.

Nationally, PropTrack’s latest market insight shows that average weekly rent rose 1.6 percent to $650 in the December quarter – an additional $1,560 per year.

Capital cities matched that average of $650, while regional markets rose 7.3 percent year-on-year to $590.

The split is stark.

Senior economist Anne Flaherty of Realestate.com.au

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Hobart saw the strongest quarterly and annual growth among capital cities, followed by Darwin and Perth, while Sydney remains the most expensive market at $760 per week – a hit that is worth $9,620 per year more than Melbourne.

REA Group senior economist Anne Flaherty said the data highlights a growing divide between houses and units, with rents rising faster over the past year as affordability pressures have changed renters’ behaviour.

“Nationally, unit rents are up 6.7 percent this year, compared to 3.2 percent for homes,” she said.

“That reflects where demand is greatest, particularly in inner-city and inner-city locations, where apartments are often the most affordable option.”