Darwin rentals hurt the pocket but it could be worse

A NEW rental price metric shows while Darwin is still one of the more expensive capital cities for tenants, it may not be as bad as some data shows.

The Rent.com.au median room price metric shows the median cost of rent per room in Darwin is $175 a week.

That is the third highest in the country, behind Sydney at $248 and Canberra at $183.

By comparison, the median rent for an entire property in Darwin is $470, the second highest of any capital city behind Sydney at $520.

Rent.com.au CEO Greg Bader said the new price metric was a different way to look at the cost of renting in different cities.

“Much of the existing data about rental properties and prices is based on metrics developed for homeowners, like dwelling price,” he said.

“We’ve introduced the median room price metric, which goes some way to levelling the distortion around the type of property – such as flat, unit or house – in the hope it will provide another view that can be used by Australian renters.”

Data based on dwellings showed Darwin was $40 more expensive than Canberra but when comparing the room median, Darwin was $8 cheaper.