Melbourne’s Most Expensive Suburbs to Rent
Melbourne’s lifestyle appeal is driving record population growth — and rising rents. Here are the six most expensive suburbs to rent a house in right now.
5 min
Melbourne is considered Australia’s most liveable city. In fact, Melbourne competes on the global stage, consistently ranking among Time Out’s top cities to live in the world and ranking fourth in 2025. Melbourne is a cultural mecca filled with arts, x, and the country’s best sporting events.
It’s the lifestyle factor that has seen Melbourne’s population grow by over 142,000 people over the 23/24 financial year, largely driven by overseas migration. With increased population comes increased demand for properties, particularly in the rental market.
Akin to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne’s South Eastern suburbs, towards Bayside and the water, dominate the most expensive suburbs listed to rent across the Victorian capital.
In this article, we’ve examined the six most expensive suburbs to rent a house in Melbourne right now, according to property data analytics firm Cotality (formerly CoreLogic).
Brighton
Median purchase: $3.15m
Median rent: $1,353
Brighton is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to rent a house, and it’s easy to see why. A blend of grand period homes and modern architectural builds line the wide, tree-filled streets. The suburb is synonymous with luxury, and rental properties—especially those close to the famed Brighton Beach and its iconic bathing boxes—are snapped up quickly. Vacancy rates sit at a tight 0.9 per cent.
The Neighbourhood
Brighton offers an enviable mix of a beachside lifestyle and convenient shopping and dining. With access to top schools like Brighton Grammar and Firbank, plus Church Street’s boutiques and the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, the Bayside suburb is the complete package for Melbourne’s high-end renters.
Malvern
Median purchase: $2.8m
Median rent: $1,313
Long known for its timeless Victorian and Edwardian homes, Malvern is a leafy inner suburb with prestige appeal. Many properties here are fully renovated period homes, featuring extensive gardens and original features that appeal to families and executives.
The Neighbourhood
Malvern boasts a refined atmosphere with a strong community feel. Glenferrie Road and High Street offer upscale cafes, boutiques, and grocers, while schools like De La Salle and St Joseph’s make the suburb particularly attractive to families.
Black Rock
Median purchase: $2.29m
Median rent: $1,253
Nestled along the Bayside coast, Black Rock has seen steady growth in both house prices and rents in recent years. Larger blocks and a quieter, more laid-back vibe than neighbouring suburbs make this a coveted spot for renters seeking both space and lifestyle.
The Neighbourhood
Black Rock is home to the picturesque Half Moon Bay and scenic cliffside walks. The suburb blends beachside charm with village convenience, offering local cafés, golf courses, and direct access to some of Melbourne’s best coastal trails.
Sandringham
Median purchase: $2.21m
Median rent: $1,199
Sandringham, next door to Black Rock, offers more of the same as its neighbouring suburb, at similar prices. Sandringham too ticks the box for laid-back waterside recreation, with the majority of homes in walking distance to the sand and charming village shops.
The Neighbourhood
This is a family-friendly suburb with a strong community vibe. Sandringham Village, with its mix of cafes, wine bars, and boutiques, sits just a short walk from the train station and beach. The area also offers excellent sporting facilities and parks. Sandringham Harbour is the local landmark, a popular destination for boating, fishing, and waterfront views from Sandringham Yacht Club.
Canterbury
Median purchase: $3.15m
Median rent: $1,179
Canterbury is the innermost Melbourne suburb on this list. It is considered one of Melbourne’s most prestigious suburbs, defined by grand family homes, generally over-the-top opulent new builds with French Provincial façades behind gated entries.
The Neighbourhood
Canterbury is anchored by the exclusive “Golden Mile” precinct and is surrounded by elite private schools such as Camberwell Grammar and Strathcona. Maling Road provides a quaint village feel, while the area’s lush green spaces complete the picture of prestige.
Hampton
Median purchase: $2.3m
Median rent: $1,171
It’s back to Bayside for the sixth and final suburb on the priciest rental areas in Melbourne. Hampton is not too dissimilar to Brighton, with a main High Street providing convenience and the beach rounding out the relaxed lifestyle found on the bay. The suburb has undergone significant gentrification, with many original homes replaced by contemporary builds.
The Neighbourhood
With a stretch of clean, family-friendly beach and the bustling Hampton Street shopping strip, Hampton has everything renters could want—from stylish cafes to gourmet grocers and boutique fitness studios. Its proximity to Brighton and Sandringham only adds to its appeal.
Melbourne’s Cheapest Suburb: Melton South
Median purchase: $460,000
Median rent: $430
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Melton South—roughly 40km west of the CBD—offers the most affordable rental market. With a median rent of under $450 a week, it’s less than a third of the weekly rent in Brighton. The suburb attracts families and first-home renters seeking value and larger land lots.
Melbourne’s Best Suburb: Toorak
Toorak is considered the Point Piper of Melbourne. Boasting even more billionaires than Sydney’s harbourside hotspot, Toorak is home to Melbourne’s most expensive houses, and reportedly Australia’s most expensive house sale if the 1860s Italianate mansion Coonac settles at over $130 million.
The suburb has some of the best educational institutions in Melbourne, as well as luxury homes on the Yarra, two train stations, and a central shopping precinct undergoing a full transformation with several mixed-use retail and residential developments. It is definitely the place to be.
Where is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to rent a house?
As of May 2025, Brighton is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to rent a house.
Where is Melbourne’s cheapest suburb to rent a unit?
As of May 2025, Melton South is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to rent a house.
Where is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to buy a house?
As of May 2025, Toorak is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to buy a house.
Where is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to buy a unit?
As of May 2025, Beaumaris is Melbourne’s most expensive suburb to buy a unit
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As interest rates, inflation and market sentiment fluctuate, investors are being urged to focus on data, not panic.
Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.
3 min
Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.
Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.
Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.
“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.
“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”
Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.
Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.
“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.
Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.
He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.
“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.
“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”
Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.
He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.
McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.
While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.
“People are looking for value for money,” she said.
She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.
“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.
The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.
“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.
He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.
While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.
“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.
Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.
Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.
McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.
Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.
“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.
“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”
As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.
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