By Tess Ikonomou in Canberra

Canberra and Brisbane were the only capital cities to record rent increases over the past three months, but Adelaide and Perth experienced the strongest hikes over the past year.

New data released by REA Group, which owns Australia’s leading real estate site, shows advertised rents were unchanged in all capital city markets apart from two in the December 2024 quarter.

Median advertised weekly rents in Sydney ($730) and Melbourne ($570) flatlined for six months, with rents growing at their slowest pace since late 2021.

The relief comes at a time when housing affordability in Australia continues to deteriorate, as households buckle under the strain of high cost-of-living pressures.

National median weekly advertised rents rose by 1.6 per cent over the same period to a new high of $620.

While rents jumped 6.9 per cent last year at a national level, growth was down from 11.5 per cent in 2023.

In regional areas, advertised rents didn’t move from $550 a week in the last three months, but spiked by a massive 10 per cent over 2024.

REA Group senior economist Paul Ryan said the figures meant good news for renters.

“We’re seeing broadly, the market come back into a bit better balance between renters and landlords in a bit more rental availability,” he told AAP.

“More investors are responding to higher rents by purchasing rental properties and making them available.”

Mr Ryan said rental availability had ticked up over the period, as the nation was about to head into the highest demand period for rentals in January and February.

“(It’s) a period where we have lots of rental leases turning over, people starting new jobs… so it’s probably going to go back to being a little bit more difficult at the start of year,” he said.

“But our expectation is over 2025, is that it will go back to… closer to what we had before the pandemic, where rentals were relatively easy to find and there was a lot of availability.”