The results of an analysis of weekly rental and income data by Finder.com.au suggests that some people could be under financial stress living in Sydney or Melbourne.
According to Domain, the investigation by Finder.com.au has found that a rental home in in Sydney and Melbourne can take 37.9 per cent and 30.7 per cent respectively of a person's average salary. Thus, Finder.com.au's Bessie Hassan says that this data shows that people could be putting themselves in financial strain living in either Sydney or Melbourne. On the other hand, Hobart has been found to be the most affordable city to rent a residence. In this Tasmania Island City, rent only takes 25.2 percent of the tenant's average weekly pay.
Talking about typical households in Melbourne, Tenants Union of Victoria policy officer Yaelle Caspi​ said, "Rents are crippling many households in Melbourne and across Victoria. Rent is the single biggest expenditure for households and this is felt the hardest in low income households."
Moreover, according to Domain, the median cost of renting houses in Melbourne has gone up by $10 in the quarter ending December 2015 as shown in Domain Group quarterly rental report. In fact, rent for houses seem to continually grow while rent for units remain fixed.
As for Sydney on the other hand, apartment rents dropped from $510 to $500 a week over the same quarter while house rents stayed the same. The decrease may sound like a good new but it is not. In Sydney, renters still end up putting more than 38 per cent of their salaries on rent alone. Some people end up having to work 3 jobs to sustain a living in Sydney as the case of musician Fanny Lumsden. According to Domain, she was spending almost half of her wage renting in Surry Hills at a $240 per week. She is running three part time jobs to supplement income from running her business and musical weekend tours.