According to REIWA data, Perth’s median weekly rent has climbed from approximately $370 at the start of 2020 to around $700 as at August 2025. The intense supply-and-demand pressures that have driven this increase are well known.
But to fully understand how we arrived here (and what may lie ahead), it’s just as important to look at the state of the Perth rental market before 2020.
Perth’s post-mining boom hangover
For those who recall, the years leading up to 2020 consisted of a long, drawn-out downturn in the Perth property market.
Western Australia’s once-in-a-generation mining boom went bust in 2014. Private sector infrastructure projects dried up. The state’s population growth slowed. And to put a sting in the tail, new housing supply peaked the following year.
What ensued was a downturn in the Perth housing market that lasted more than half a decade as sales and rental stock heavily outweighed demand.
At the height of WA’s mining boom, Perth-wide median rents were in the high-$400s, though some suburbs peaked well above $600 per week. By the end of 2019 (per Domain), rental prices had slipped to just $370 per week as the market had become awash with listings.
While the worst of the downturn had passed by 2020 (as supply and demand of rental stock had begun to rebalance), Covid super-charged this recovery as tens-of-thousands of Aussie expats living abroad began moving back to WA to avoid the worst of the pandemic.
What does this mean for Perth’s rental prices today?
While there’s no denying Perth rents have risen sharply since 2020, it’s worthwhile noting that this came off an extremely low base.
Effectively, this was the bottom of the downturn after the biggest mining boom in Australian history.
With that in mind, it’s hard to call the Perth rental market from the start of 2020 – when median rents were just $370 per week – ‘normal’.
Seen through that lens, today’s rental prices are less about overheating and more about a correction from an unusually low base.
Benchmarking Perth: How do rents compare nationally?
Understanding Perth’s position also means comparing it with other states and territories.
Despite the sharp rise in rents, Western Australia sits close to the national average when it comes to rental affordability.
According to REIA data, the average WA household spends around 24.2% of its income on rent, broadly in line with the national average of 24.3%.
WA remains more affordable than several other markets, including South Australia (25.3%), the Northern Territory (25.4%), Tasmania (26.5%), and New South Wales (27.2%), where households devote a higher share of income to rent.
Perth rental prices: Where to from here?
Realistically, the current market conditions can’t continue forever, as limited supply and high demand continue to buoy rental prices.
We must remember that the housing market is cyclical in nature. History has shown us this over and over again.
With that in mind, rental prices could start to ease over the next 1-2 years, albeit slightly, as housing supply slowly catches up with demand.
Barring a major national or global economic shock, we certainly don’t expect rental prices to go back to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon, if ever again.
Instead, Perth’s rental market is more likely to stabilise around higher price points than those seen during the post-mining boom downturn.
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