Yahoo Finance Aussies share shocking amount spent on rent: ‘Struggling’
Hundreds of Aussies have shared how much they are paying in rent.
Aussies have shared the enormous amounts of rent they are paying compared to their income, with many forking out 50 per cent of their salary on rent.
Taking to the popular r/Australia subreddit, one user posed the question: “What per cent of your take-home is going to rent?”
“Currently I'm sitting at 33 per cent of my income going to rent (live alone/Melbourne-based), but imagine I'll have to raise that significantly if I want to stay in my suburb or else it's downsize/shifting suburbs,” they shared.
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Hundreds of Aussies from across the country took to the comments, with responses ranging from as low as 10 per cent up to 80 per cent.
“45 per cent, got caring responsibilities that limit the time I can work to 4 days a week. Was 30 per cent when I first moved in here, but rent raises and having to lower working hours has eaten into it,” one person wrote.
“70 per cent and that’s sharing a 2-bed. Part-time worker, full-time study,” another added.
“51 per cent: take-home pay a grand a week, pay 510 per week in rent for a two-bedder … Can’t find anything cheaper, well can’t find anything at all where we live and to uproot would be very expensive and mean new job, school, etc. Struggling - I work six days [and I am a] single parent,” another wrote.
“83 per cent in Sydney. We became single-income half a year ago. It keeps me up at night,” another said.
“Brisbane. My rent just increased by 33 per cent last week, so now it takes up 20 per cent of my post-tax weekly income, exactly,” another commented.
“58 per cent in Melbourne and I’m actually getting a great deal for the quality of my place and the location. Scared for my rent increase next year,” another said.
“Currently, I am renting for $290 a week (single-bedroom apartment), which is about 25 per cent of my weekly take-home after tax. I live in a small country town, this is as cheap as rent gets in Australia, and I am on a pretty decent wage,” someone else said.
Mortgage holders feeling the squeeze
Things aren’t looking good for mortgage holders either. NAB, ANZ and Westpac are now all expecting the cash rate to peak at 4.60 per cent.
If this happens, Canstar found couples in Sydney who recently borrowed could be forking out 50 per cent of their before-tax income on repayments - or 66 per cent of their after-tax income.
That’s based on a couple who purchased a median-priced house at $1.4 million with a 20 per cent deposit in April last year and maxed out their borrowing capacity.
Homeowners in Melbourne would also feel the squeeze on the median $1 million house, with their repayments potentially taking out 47 per cent of their before-tax salary or 60 per cent of their after-tax income.
“The pace of interest rate rises over the past year has resulted in an unprecedented escalation in the amount of household income that is absorbed by repayments,” Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said.
“Interest rates have gone up so quickly that pay rises have gone nowhere towards covering higher repayments.”
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