The sharpest drop of all suburbs came out of the Australian Capital Territory where Oaks Estate unit rent medians plunged a whopping -36.9 per cent year-on-year.

Rents have fallen in 499 suburbs nationwide, but the tiny glimmer of relief is drowned out by ten times as many still rising.

Revised figures provided by PropTrack on Wednesday show 499 of close to 6,000 suburbs surveyed recorded annual rent declines to February – or 8.3 per cent of those with 10 or more rental listings in the past year.

A further 352 suburbs (5.9 per cent) saw rents flatline with zero annual growth, but the overwhelming trend was rises for 81.8 per cent of the total.

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A one-bedroom unit at Park Road, Yeerongpilly, has had a deposit taken after being put up for $450 a week with a bond of $1,800.

The falls were spread across every mainland capital and regional market.

Greater Sydney, long considered one of the country’s tightest rental markets, had the highest number of falling suburbs, with 101 recording declines of as much as 17.7 per cent.

Greater Melbourne had 90 suburbs go backwards, Adelaide 57, the ACT 39, Brisbane 29, Perth 21 and Darwin 5.

Regional rental price falls were led by NSW (83), followed by Queensland (53), Victoria (37), Tasmania (11), SA (8), WA (5) and NT (2).

The sharpest drop nationally came out of the ACT, where Oaks Estate unit rents plunged 36.9 per cent year-on-year from $650 in February 2025 to $410 in February 2026.

Other steep falls included Bald Hills (Qld) units, down 20.4 per cent, Lowood (Qld) units down 20.2 per cent, Invermay (Tas) units down 18.6 per cent and Pentland Hills (Vic) houses down 18.2 per cent.

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An Oaks Estate unit in this complex was listed at $765 a week, close to double the suburb median.

Greater Sydney’s significant declines came out of Norah Head houses, down 17.7 per cent, Blue Bay houses down 17.5 per cent, and Middle Cove easing 13.5 per cent year-on-year.

Melbourne’s outer and lifestyle suburbs were also hit, with Pentland Hills down 18.2 per cent and Monbulk falling 14.6 per cent.

In Brisbane, Tennyson houses dropped 16.7 per cent, Yeerongpilly fell 16.9 per cent and Bald Hills units slumped more than 20 per cent.

Even prestige pockets were not immune, with East Lindfield on Sydney’s North Shore seeing house rents fall 10 per cent to $1,440 per week, while Salter Point in Perth dropped 10 per cent to $900.

Regional markets – which led the rental surge during the pandemic migration boom – also recorded notable corrections, with Federal in northern NSW falling 11.4 per cent, Clare in South Australia dropping 10 per cent, and Onslow in Western Australia declining 10 per cent.

Housing experts have been warning affordability ceilings are being reached across the country after years of rapid rent growth, including housing and homelessness peak body Q Shelter, which has called for greater protection for tenants including limits on rent increases matched to inflation.

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Its pre-budget submission to the Queensland state government warned “there is more to do to ensure that people in an acute crisis have a housing option and aren’t sleeping rough, couch surfing or living in cars”.

“The pressure on the housing market is sustained with low rental vacancies, high median house prices, and the rising cost of rents. This warrants a sustained level of investment in the capacity to help people right now while pursuing deep reforms that ensure a healthy housing system long-term.”

It said the state needed “a target for affordable housing where people pay a discount to market rent and where that discount delivers housing at less than 30 per cent of income”.

SUBURBS WITH BIGGEST ANNUAL RENT FALLS:

Oaks Estate unit, ACT, -36.9%, now $410/wk

Bald Hills unit, Greater Brisbane, -20.4%, now $438/wk

Lowood unit, Greater Brisbane, -20.2%, now $359/wk

Invermay unit, Rest of Tas, -18.6%, now $358/wk

Pentland Hills house, Greater Melbourne, -18.2%, now $450/wk

Norah Head house, Greater Sydney, -17.7%, now $700/wk

Blue Bay house, Greater Sydney, -17.5%, now $650/wk

Yeerongpilly house, Greater Brisbane, -16.9%, now $648/wk

Tennyson house, Greater Brisbane, -16.7%, now $1,000/wk

Braitling unit, Rest of NT, -16.7%, now $400/wk

Glynde unit, Greater Adelaide, -16.4%, now $510/wk

Griffith house, ACT, -16.3%, now $900/wk

Griffith unit, Rest of NSW, -16.3%, now $360/wk

Deakin unit, ACT, -16.1%, now $625/wk

Woodville North unit, Greater Adelaide, -15.8%, now $505/wk

Speers Point unit, Rest of NSW, -15.6%, now $608/wk

Youngtown unit, Rest of Tas, -15%, now $425/wk

(Source: PropTrack quarterly rent report to February 2026)