A new analysis has placed the Hunter among the top 10 regions in Australia for rental increases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Everybody's Home report says typical Hunter weekly asking rents have risen $183 since June 2020, the 10th highest increase in regional Australia.
The increase means the typical household is spending $9500 a year more on rent than they were in the early weeks of the pandemic.
The report says the average Hunter asking rent for apartments and houses is up 46 per cent from $394 in June 2020 to $577.
The sharp rise follows a decade of comparatively stable rents in the Hunter.
The average rent was $328 in June 2010, rising only $66, or 20 per cent, in the following 10 years.
The average annual rent increase in the decade to June 2020 was 2 per cent, compared with more than 11.5 per cent in the subsequent four years.
The Hunter rental vacancy rate has plummeted from 1.9 per cent at the start of the pandemic to 1.1 per cent. The vacancy rate was 3 per cent 10 years ago.
Everybody's Home's analysis of SQM Research weekly data shows regional Australia renters are spending $153 more on average each week compared with June 2020, or $8000 extra per year.
Some regions have suffered even steeper rent rises than the Hunter.
Every part of Australia has endured decades of failing government decisions.
- Maiy Azize, Everybody's Home
Gold Coast average rents have skyrocketed from $505 to $863 in four years, a jump of 71 per cent.
The biggest rise in regional Australia is in the north of Western Australia, where the average rent is up from $469 to $958 since June 2020.
Everybody's Home, a national campaign backed by charities and housing providers, is hosting the final day of its People's Commission into the Housing Crisis on Tuesday.
Everybody's Home spokesperson Maiy Azize, the deputy director of Anglicare Australia, said it was "no surprise that regional areas right across Australia have been slammed by exorbitant rent rises over the past few years".
"Every part of Australia has endured decades of failing government decisions, and they're being exposed to the consequences," she said.
"The People's Commission has heard consistently from people about the need to build social housing and wind back investor tax handouts to ease this housing crisis for all Australians."
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
