Parts of Lake Macquarie are among the top 25 suburbs or towns for rental pain in NSW, according to data published on Monday.
A "rental pain" ranking prepared by property analysts Suburbtrends shows Belmont-Blacksmiths and Toronto-Awaba were rated 20th and 21st in the state after their average rents rose 11 per cent in 12 months.
The average rent amounted to 40 per cent of average income in Belmont-Blacksmiths and 34 per cent in Toronto-Awaba.
Only four other suburbs in the NSW top 25 had a higher rent-to-income ratio than Belmont-Blacksmiths.
The national report calculated a rent pain index taking into account price rises, vacancy rates and affordability.
The rental vacancy rate was 1.5 per cent in Belmont-Blacksmiths and 1.3 per cent in Toronto-Awaba.
The Newcastle Herald reported in May that Hunter renters were paying a much greater share of their income on leases than they were three years ago and a much bigger proportion than the national average.
Renters on a median income in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in March needed to spend 34.5 per cent of their gross pay on a typical new lease, compared with 29.8 per cent in 2020 and 30.8 per cent nationally.
Suburbtrends' new analysis shows many of the top 25 suburbs for rental pain are in western Sydney, where vacancy rates were as low as 0.2 per cent in Auburn and 0.4 per cent in Bankstown.
Rents rose 20 per cent in a year in some western Sydney suburbs.
The worst suburb or town for rental pain in NSW was Deniliquin, in the Riverina district, where rents rose 18 per cent, the vacancy rate was 0.4 per cent and the average rent was 30 per cent of average income.
Nine of the top 25 in Australia for rental pain were in Queensland, including top-ranked Stanthorpe, and nine were in South Australia.
Suburbs or towns had to have at least 250 rental properties to make the Suburbtrends list.
The report shows the vacancy rate across South Australia was 0.6 per cent, Western Australia and Queensland 0.8 per cent, NSW 0.9 per cent, Victoria 1 per cent, Northern Territory 1.2 per cent, ACT 2.2 per cent and Tasmania 2.3 per cent.
NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia had average rental increases above 14 per cent in the past 12 months.
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