1. Australia
  2. New South Wales
  3. Greater Sydney
  4. Sydney

Sydney

A New South Wales council area. It covers every suburb inside the council boundary, so it is wider than any one of them.

As published

Sydney in thirty seconds

council area
Demand Moderate
Main population driver Net overseas migration
Approved pipeline Stable
Housing delivery Moderate
Rental pressure Moderate
Evidence High

Population grew +1.8% over the year to 30 June 2025, against +1.5% for Australia over the same period.

Net overseas migration was the largest component of that change.

Dwelling approvals were −3.9% against the twelve months before. Approvals are permission to build, not completed dwellings.

Completions over the same period were equivalent to 86% of commencements, for New South Wales. These figures compare pipeline flows and do not track individual approved dwellings through construction.

Achieved rents moved +5.9% over the year, against +5.9% for the middle council area in New South Wales.

Each of these is a separate reading with its own rule and its own figures, set out under Housing Balance below. There is deliberately no single score: one number would hide which of them was doing the work.

At $900 a week, Sydney is higher than 93% of the 103 NSW council areas we hold.

Half of new leases in Sydney were between $750 and $1,150 a week — a quarter came in under $750, and a quarter above $1,150.

Rents there are up 5.9% over the past year, about the same as the typical NSW council area (up 5.9%).

Based on 6,122 new leases, which is a large enough sample to be steady quarter to quarter.

The most common new lease there was a one-bedroom unit or flat, at $819 a week across 2,862 of them.

Houses there rent for $1,050 and units for $910, so the figure above sits between two different markets.

Rental market

Median weekly rent$900publisher’s figure · June quarter 2026
One year+5.9%June quarter 2026 against a year earlier
Five years+55.2%June quarter 2026 against five years earlier
Since September quarter 2017+49.0%36 quarters of history

36 quarters of history

Median weekly rent of bonds lodged in the quarter, which is new lettings only. Every point is a figure the publisher published; nothing between them is filled in.

$500$600$700$800$900$90020172019202120232025

What we hold for Sydney

Median weekly rent$900publisher’s figure · June quarter 2026
A quarter of new leases came in below$750publisher’s figure · June quarter 2026
A quarter came in above$1,150publisher’s figure · June quarter 2026
Median sale price$1,075,000publisher’s figure · March quarter 2026
Gross rental yield4.35%calculated from the two above
Rental bonds held71,207publisher’s figure · June quarter 2026

The numbers behind the chart

Every quarter the publisher reported, as figures rather than a shape. Download as CSV — a stable link you can cite, check against the publisher’s own workbook, or put in a spreadsheet.

36 quarterly figures
QuarterMedian weekly rent Change on the quarter before
June quarter 2026$900+0.7%
March quarter 2026$894+2.2%
December quarter 2025$875+3.6%
September quarter 2025$845-0.6%
June quarter 2025$8500.0%
March quarter 2025$850+6.3%
December quarter 2024$800-2.4%
September quarter 2024$820+2.5%
June quarter 2024$800-3.6%
March quarter 2024$830+6.4%
December quarter 2023$780+2.8%
September quarter 2023$759+7.1%
June quarter 2023$709-5.5%
March quarter 2023$750+15.4%
December quarter 2022$650-4.4%
September quarter 2022$680+7.9%
June quarter 2022$630+5.0%
March quarter 2022$600+7.1%
December quarter 2021$560-1.8%
September quarter 2021$570-1.7%
June quarter 2021$580+5.5%
March quarter 2021$550+1.9%
December quarter 2020$540-5.3%
September quarter 2020$570-3.4%
June quarter 2020$590-9.1%
March quarter 2020$649+3.0%
December quarter 2019$630-3.1%
September quarter 2019$6500.0%
June quarter 2019$6500.0%
March quarter 2019$650+3.2%
December quarter 2018$630-2.5%
September quarter 2018$646+2.5%
June quarter 2018$6300.0%
March quarter 2018$630+1.6%
December quarter 2017$620+2.6%
September quarter 2017$604

Houses and units are not the same market

The figure above blends every dwelling type the publisher reports. These are the same quarter, split the way New South Wales splits it.

Dwelling typeMedian weekly rent One yearNew leases
Townhouses$1,150+5.0%145
Houses$1,050+5.0%531
Units and flats$910+7.1%5,100
All dwellings$900 +5.9% 6,122

Where that sits

The council areas either side of Sydney, ranked by the same figure in the same quarter.

Council area Median rentOne year
Randwick$895+5.3%
Canada Bay$897+5.5%
Mosman$898+5.6%
Sydney$900+5.9%
Byron$950+11.8%
Northern Beaches$950+8.0%
Hunters Hill$975+18.9%

What it costs by size

The same quarter, split the way New South Wales splits it. The figure at the top of this page blends all of these together, so it describes none of them exactly. A blank cell means the publisher reported nothing for that combination here — usually because there were too few new leases to publish.

SizeHousesTownhousesUnits and flats
Studio $620count withheldNot published$575201 new leases
1 bedroom $725133 new leases$770count withheld$8192,862 new leases
2 bedrooms $988168 new leases$99553 new leases$1,1501,737 new leases
3 bedrooms $1,350144 new leases$1,35063 new leases$1,550277 new leases
4 bedrooms $1,65072 new leases$1,650count withheld$2,000count withheld

13 postcodes inside Sydney

The council’s own figure above is computed over every bond inside the boundary. These are the postcodes within it that the publisher reports separately, ranked by the same figure in the same quarter. Which postcode sits in which council is not something the bond publisher states; it comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics boundary correspondence, and is used to link the pages, never to compute a figure.

Postcode Median weekly rent One year New leases
Postcode 2000Barangaroo, Dawes Point and Haymarket and 3 more$1,100+4.8%972
Postcode 2017Waterloo and Zetland$1,050+5.0%1,046
Postcode 2009Pyrmont$980+8.9%212
Postcode 2018Eastlakes and Rosebery$950+7.3%330
Postcode 2043Erskineville$950+5.0%170
Postcode 2050Camperdown$900+12.5%215
Postcode 2008Chippendale and Darlington (Sydney - NSW)$897+9.4%658
Postcode 2037Forest Lodge and Glebe$893+11.6%294
Postcode 2015Alexandria, Beaconsfield and Eveleigh$890+2.5%217
Postcode 2010Darlinghurst and Surry Hills$853+6.6%698
Postcode 2016Redfern$795+2.6%464
Postcode 2011Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point and Rushcutters Bay and 1 more$730+5.0%572
Postcode 2007Ultimo$719-0.1%246

Housing Balance

Where housing demand is coming from, how quickly supply is being delivered, and how rents are responding. Six readings, each with the figures behind it and the rule that turned those figures into a word. None of them says a market is short of housing: that needs household formation, which APRIQ does not hold, and is not estimated here.

Population and migration here were published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for Sydney itself.

Demand

Moderate

How fast the population is growing, against the national rate.

Why?
Population growth, Sydney+1.8%the year to 30 June 2025
Population growth, Australia+1.5%the year to 30 June 2025

Strong when growth is at least half a percentage point above the national rate, weak when at least half a point below, moderate in between. Population is one ABS instrument measured the same way everywhere, so a market compares to Australia.

Main population driver

Net overseas migration

Which component moved the population most over the latest year the ABS splits it.

Why?
Natural increase, Sydney+900the year to 30 June 2025
Net internal migration, Sydney−3,965the year to 30 June 2025
Net overseas migration, Sydney+7,305the year to 30 June 2025

The largest of natural increase, net internal migration and net overseas migration by absolute size, so a large outflow is named rather than hidden inside a net total. This states which component was largest. It says nothing about why anyone moved.

Approved pipeline

Stable

Whether dwelling approvals are running above or below the year before.

Why?
Dwellings approved, Sydney1,672the twelve months to June 2026
The twelve months before, Sydney1,740a year earlier
Change on the year before, Sydney−3.9%the twelve months to June 2026

Expanding above +10%, contracting below −10%, stable in between, comparing twelve months of approvals against the twelve before them. An approval is permission to build, not a dwelling. Where a market is smaller than the areas the Australian Bureau of Statistics counts approvals for, this is a blend of those areas' own changes, weighted by how much of each the market covers — not a count of approvals here.

Housing delivery

Moderate

How much housing is being finished, against how much is being started.

Why?
Dwellings completed, New South Wales8,883March quarter 2026
Dwellings started, New South Wales10,373March quarter 2026
Completions as a share of commencements86%March quarter 2026

Strong at or above 95% of commencements, weak below 80%, moderate in between, over the same twelve months. Completions during the period compared with commencements during the period — these figures compare pipeline flows and do not track individual approved dwellings through construction.

Rental pressure

Moderate

How fast achieved rents are rising, against the rest of the state.

Why?
Rent change over a year, Sydney+5.9%June quarter 2026
Rent change over a year, the middle council area in New South Wales+5.9%June quarter 2026

High when rents rose at least one percentage point faster than the state, low when at least a point slower, moderate in between. Compared against the state rather than the nation because each bond authority defines its own series: changes compare, levels do not.

Evidence

High

How much of this market's picture was measured for this market.

Why?
Demand evidencemeasured for this markethow it was made
Components present5 of 5on this page

High where the demand evidence was published for this geography and most components are present; moderate where it was derived through an official ABS correspondence; limited where it describes a larger area containing this market, or where components are missing.

Population and housing pipeline

Sydney is a council area, which is the same boundary the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes population and dwelling approvals for. Both are shown here as the ABS states them, on their own clocks: population is estimated at 30 June and revised for years afterwards, dwelling approvals are counted monthly. Where the two are compared, the comparison is made over one twelve-month window both cover — which is usually an earlier year than the latest approvals figure, so each row names its own period.

Population241,797estimated residents at 30 June 2025
Annual population growth+1.8%the year to 30 June 2025
Dwellings approved1,672the twelve months to June 2026
Approvals per 1,000 residents6.9approved dwellings, the twelve months to June 2026
People added per dwelling approved2.4the year to 30 June 2025
Population growth a year over five years+1.2%the five years to 30 June 2025

The approved dwelling pipeline kept pace with population over the year to 30 June 2025: 2.4 more residents for each dwelling approved, against an average Australian household of about 2.5 people at the 2021 Census.

Dwelling approvals in the twelve months to June 2026 were 3.9% lower than the twelve months before.

Dwelling approvals are an indicator of the future housing pipeline, not completed dwellings. Approved work can lapse, and what proceeds is finished months or years later.

Where that population change came from

The three components the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes for the year to 30 June 2025, which add to the change in estimated resident population over that year. Each is a count over those twelve months, not a level at the end of them — unlike the population figure above, which is a headcount at a date. They are net figures: net internal migration of −300 means 300 more people left than arrived, not that 300 people left. All three are shown together because each is only meaningful against the other two. This is a single year — the ABS publishes the split annually and APRIQ holds one edition of it, so it is not a trend and no direction can be read from it.

Component People
Natural increase+900
Net internal migration−3,965
Net overseas migration+7,305
Total change in population+4,240

The year to 30 June 2025 · knowable 31 March 2026 · ABS regional population, components of change. APRIQ publishes the three together and draws no conclusion from them: what a given number of arrivals means for housing depends on household size and formation, which are not held.

Population through time

Estimated resident population at 30 June each year, as most recently restated by the ABS. Every point is an estimate rather than a count — the Census is the count, and the years between are carried forward from births, deaths and migration.

125,000150,000175,000200,000225,000250,000241,79720012006201120162021

Dwelling approvals through time

New residential dwellings approved each quarter, summed from the monthly figures the ABS publishes. A quarter missing any of its months is left out rather than shown short. These are approvals, not completions.

02505007501,0001,2501,00920212022202320242025

What we hold on population and approvals

Estimated resident population241,79730 June 2025 · knowable 31 March 2026 · ABS regional population
Annual population growth+1.8%the year to 30 June 2025 · knowable 31 March 2026 · calculated from the two estimates named
Population growth a year over five years+1.2%the five years to 30 June 2025 · knowable 31 March 2026 · calculated from the two estimates named
Dwellings approved1,672the twelve months to June 2026 · knowable 6 August 2026 · ABS building approvals
Houses approved21the twelve months to June 2026 · knowable 6 August 2026 · ABS building approvals
Townhouses, units and apartments approved1,651the twelve months to June 2026 · knowable 6 August 2026 · ABS building approvals
Approved dwellings per 1,000 residents6.9the twelve months to June 2026 against 30 June 2025 · knowable 6 August 2026 · calculated from the two figures named
People added per dwelling approved2.4the year to 30 June 2025 · knowable 6 August 2026 · calculated over one twelve-month window both series cover
Change in approvals on the year before-3.9%the twelve months to June 2026 against the twelve months to June 2025 · knowable 6 August 2026 · four quarters against the four before them

Population is the Australian Bureau of Statistics Regional Population release, and dwelling approvals are its Building Approvals release; both are used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Population figures are dated by the ABS release that restated them, so a figure for an earlier year became knowable on the day that release went up rather than in the year it describes. Method, sources and licences.

From approval to completed home

The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes commencements, dwellings under construction and completions for states and territories and nowhere finer — there is no council or suburb breakdown of any of them. These figures describe New South Wales as a whole, not this market, and are shown because the approval figures above cannot say on their own whether approved dwellings are being built.

The chain, March quarter 2026

Approved51,967the twelve months to March 2026 · knowable 6 August 2026 · ABS building approvals, summed over the state
Approved and not yet started12,745March quarter 2026 · knowable 8 July 2026 · ABS building activity — a count at this date
Started51,714the twelve months to March 2026 · knowable 8 July 2026 · ABS building activity
Under construction80,522March quarter 2026 · knowable 8 July 2026 · ABS building activity — a count at this date
Completed44,804the twelve months to March 2026 · knowable 8 July 2026 · ABS building activity

The first three lines are permission and intent. Only the last counts homes that exist.

Started against approved100%the twelve months to March 2026
Finished against started87%the twelve months to March 2026
Years of work under construction1.8at the rate of March quarter 2026
Approved pipeline not yet started14%of everything approved and unfinished at March quarter 2026

Dwellings were started at 100% of the rate they were approved over the twelve months to March 2026.

Fewer were finished than started (87% as many), so the number under construction grew.

What is under construction represents about 1.8 years of building at the current rate of completions.

These are counts of activity in a period, not a cohort. The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not publish which approvals became which commencements, so none of these figures says what share of any particular approvals was built.

Market signals

Four separate readings, each with the figures behind it and the rule that turned those figures into words. There is deliberately no single score: one number would hide which of these was doing the work, and a market with strong rental evidence and no population figure would score as though it had both. Every signal describes what has been measured — none of them is advice, and none says what will happen next.

Rental momentum

Moving with the rest of New South Wales

How rents here moved over a year, against the typical council area in New South Wales.

Why?
Rent change over a year here+5.9%June quarter 2026 against a year earlier
The middle council area in New South Wales+5.9%June quarter 2026 against a year earlier
DifferenceLess than 0.1 percentage points apartJune quarter 2026 against a year earlier
Markets in the comparison103June quarter 2026 against a year earlier

The difference between this market’s one-year rent change and the middle change across every council area the same publisher reports, in percentage points: 3 or more above is well above, 1 above is above, within 1 either way is in line. Changes are compared within one state because each bond authority defines its own series — movement may be compared between them, the rent itself may not.

Population pressure

Growing about as fast as Australia

How fast the population here is changing, against how fast Australia is changing.

Why?
Annual population growth here+1.8%the year to 30 June 2025
Australia, the same year+1.5%the year to 30 June 2025
Difference+0.2 percentage pointsthe year to 30 June 2025
Growth a year over five years+1.2%the five years to 30 June 2025

The difference between this market’s annual population growth and Australia’s, in percentage points: 1.5 or more above is well above the national rate, 0.5 above is above it, within 0.5 either way is in line with it, and a fall is named as a fall. Both figures are ABS estimated resident population at 30 June, the same instrument measured the same way, so they may be compared directly.

Approved housing pipeline

Approving about the national rate

How many dwellings this market approved over twelve months for every thousand residents, against the national rate. Approvals are permission to build, not completed dwellings.

Why?
Approved dwellings per 1,000 residents6.9the twelve months to June 2026
Australia, the same twelve months7.4the twelve months to June 2026
Change on the twelve months before−3.9%the twelve months to June 2026 against the twelve months to June 2025
People added per dwelling approved2.4the year to 30 June 2025

This market’s approved dwellings per thousand residents divided by Australia’s: twice the national rate or more is well above it, a quarter above is above it, within a fifth either way is in line, and below four fifths is below. Both are ABS building approvals over the same twelve months. An approval is permission to build — some of it lapses, and the rest completes months or years later — so this describes a pipeline and never housing that exists.

Evidence quality

Strong

How much weight the figures on this page can carry.

Why?
New leases behind the current figure6,122June quarter 2026
Quarters of history36to June quarter 2026
How currentThe latest quarter published anywhereJune quarter 2026
OriginAs the publisher published itJune quarter 2026
KnowabilityDated by the publisher’s own release timingJune quarter 2026

Strong needs 200 or more new leases behind the current figure, the most recent quarter published anywhere, and eight or more quarters of history. Adequate needs 50 leases and no more than one quarter behind. A withheld count cannot earn better than thin, because a suppressed number is unknown rather than small.

Where these numbers come from

The latest figures here are for June quarter 2026, which ended 30 June 2026. The next is September quarter 2026, ending 30 September 2026; it appears here once the publisher releases it, and we do not predict that date.

The rent figures here are published by NSW Department of Communities and Justice and used under an open licence. Any other figure on this page names its own publisher on the line it appears on. Every rent figure is either as published or arithmetic on figures as published. APRIQ models and estimates nothing: where a figure is a publisher’s own estimate — an estimated resident population is one — it is called an estimate where it is shown. Growth is measured between named quarters, never by counting back rows, because an area is published only when it clears the publisher’s reporting threshold. This page exists because Sydney has 6,122 bonds behind its current figure and 36 quarters of history; markets with less than that get no page rather than a thin one. Method, sources and licences.