Rents
Rents measures the national median weekly asking rent, built from rental bond lodgements — the record created when a tenancy begins. It is a measure of the rent level, not of its rate of change.
The node is a component of Price & Affordability Conditions (24760), which in turn sits within the APN Investment Conditions Index™ (24700). It is a national time series, not a geographic one — there is no locality distribution or map at this node.
An elevated reading at this node means rents are high, not that renting is affordable. The scale records where the median rent sits against its own recorded history. It carries no statement that conditions are favourable, and should not be read as one.
| Component | Source | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| National median weekly rent | APN derived, rental bonds | 100.0% |
| State median weekly rent | APN derived, rental bonds | 0.0% |
The state breakdown is carried at zero weight as a reference dimension rather than as a contributing input. Giving it a positive weight would count the same underlying bond data twice, once nationally and once by state, which is the treatment it already receives at the parent node and elsewhere in the platform.
| Measure | Quarter to Jun 2026 | Standardised |
|---|---|---|
| National median weekly rent | $695.83 | +1.50 |
| Composite | — | +1.50 |
The standardised column expresses the median rent against this node’s recorded window, which begins in the third quarter of 2023.
The June quarter 2026 reading, +1.4958σ, has an indicative position of 93.3 and sits above the normal range of −1.2816σ to +1.2816σ. With 12 ranked quarters the position is indicative, and the node carries a single input, so the variance correction is 1.
Show the data
| Quarter | Reading | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | −1.7227σ | Ranked |
| Q4 2023 | −1.2424σ | Ranked |
| Q1 2024 | −0.9124σ | Ranked |
| Q2 2024 | −0.4974σ | Ranked |
| Q3 2024 | −0.3065σ | Ranked |
| Q4 2024 | −0.1613σ | Ranked |
| Q1 2025 | +0.1622σ | Ranked |
| Q2 2025 | +0.3912σ | Ranked |
| Q3 2025 | +0.5567σ | Ranked |
| Q4 2025 | +0.9448σ | Ranked |
| Q1 2026 | +1.2920σ | Ranked |
| Q2 2026 | +1.4958σ | Ranked |
The national median weekly rent sits at the highest level in this node's recorded window, at +1.50 standardised, giving a position of 93.3. Rents in the June 2026 quarter are more elevated than in any quarter this record contains.
Stated plainly: this is the most expensive point for renters in the recorded window, not the least. A reading at the top of this scale describes rental costs at their recorded maximum.
The record is short — twelve quarters, beginning in late 2023 — so the reading establishes a position within a three-year window rather than a long-run historical high. The caveats below set out what that permits.
- The input carries a short-history qualification. The node's entire record is twelve quarters, beginning in the third quarter of 2023, because that is when the underlying bond data series starts. Its standardised position rests on a short window and should be read as provisional.
- The position is model-based, not ranked. The node holds twelve quarters, below the twenty-quarter floor at which empirical ranking begins, so the position is derived from the standardised reading of +1.50 against a normal distribution rather than by counting quarters. It is rendered on the same scale as a ranked position so the two can be read alongside one another, and graduates to an empirical ranking automatically at twenty quarters.
- Bond lodgements record new tenancies, not all tenancies. The measure describes rents agreed when a lease begins, which move ahead of rents paid across the existing stock. It is a measure of the market a new tenant faces.
- Signed direction, and who it speaks for. A high rent level is adverse for a tenant and favourable for a landlord. This index addresses prospective investment, and on that frame a higher rent level counts toward conditions, so the component enters as it reads. The signed position of 93.3 is a statement about investment conditions and not about rental affordability, which this node does not measure and on which it takes no position.
- No diversification adjustment. The model-based position divides the standardised reading by the spread the node's inputs jointly imply. With a single contributing input there is no such spread to estimate, so the adjustment takes its neutral value and the position understates extremity in both directions.
- A rental affordability component is reserved and not currently reported. Price & Affordability Conditions (24760) is presently composed on three components. A fourth, addressing rent relative to income, is held pending a rebuild of its underlying measure and is not part of the certified parent reading.
- Collinearity with a sibling. This node and Asset Base Value (24764) both draw on the level of residential property values, so within Price & Affordability Conditions (24760) they carry overlapping evidence rather than independent evidence. The overlap is disclosed rather than adjusted for in the weighting.
The other components of Price & Affordability Conditions (24760). Each is independently certified.
- Certified 10 September 2026; recomputed 30 September 2026 on Western Australia’s complete June quarter 2026 rental data. A component of Price & Affordability Conditions (24760), entering that branch at equal weight
- Intensity position 93.3 and signed position 93.3, both model-based on twelve quarters and carrying the indicative qualification above
- Enters the index as it reads: on the frame of prospective investment, a higher rent level counts toward conditions
- The input carries a short-history qualification — the node's entire record is twelve quarters.
- An elevated reading records rents at their most expensive in the window, not their most affordable.
- Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
