If you ever needed proof Sydney’s rental market is completely insane, here it is. This tiny apartment – previously dubbed a “room with a poo” – is currently listed for $520 a week.
The studio, in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, redefines open plan living with its bright red tiling in the kitchen, a polkadot couch, and a toilet – all in the same space.
Only a set of semi-frosted glass doors separate the kitchen from the “throne room”. In this apartment, your business becomes everybody’s business.
According to the listing agent, the space is “chic” and the perfect bolthole for someone who “craves simplicity”.
“Simplicity is not simple in Surry Hills,” the marketing guff reads. The flat features an “immaculate Italian designer tiled bathroom” and is situated in a “vibrant” suburb.
The real estate agent managing the listing did not respond to a request for comment.
The studio was previously listed in 2020 for $380 – the additional $140 demanded a reflection of the city’s rapidly rising rents. CoreLogic’s quarterly rental review for the third quarter of 2022 showed the median rent in Sydney had grown by 10.3% over the past 12 months.
With vacancy rates sitting at a national record of only 1.3%, demand is expected to remain high. Kaytlin Ezzy, a research analyst at CoreLogic, said there had been an “unprecedented” growth in the market in recent years.
“We saw rents fall marginally over the first few months of Covid, but, since August 2020, national dwelling rents have surged almost 20%, equivalent to a weekly rent rise of approximately $90 a week.”
“Initially driven by a reduction in the average household size, the continued upswing in values is likely now predominantly being driven by the strong return of overseas migration, coupled with extremely tight rental supply.”
The report showed that Sydney had overtaken Canberra as the most expensive unit rental market, with median prices sitting at $594 a week.
Melbourne remains Australia’s most affordable capital to rent a house in, with median prices sitting at $518 a week, while Adelaide is the most affordable city to rent a unit in at $423 a week.
