Rents across Australia continue to grow but are growing at their slowest pace in more than three years, according to new analysis by the REA group.

Nationally rents rose by 6.9% over 2024, compared with 11.5% growth in 2023. REA Group senior economist Paul Ryan says advertised rents in capital cities grew by 1.6% during the December quarter to $640 per week. Most capital cities did not record an increase during the quarter, except for Brisbane, which is up 1.6% and the ACT which is up 3.3%.

Although rents didn’t increase in Sydney in the past quarter, it still has the highest median asking rents: $780 per week for houses and $700 per week for units. Unit rents in 2024 are up by 7.1% nationally to $600 per week.

Ryan says the slowing in rental growth can be attributed to a number of factors including an increase in rental listings and cost of cost-of-living pressures reducing a tenant’s ability to pay higher rents. “The pace of rent growth across the country is slowing, with market conditions easing for renters,” Ryan says.