At the end of her lease, single mother of two Julia Godbold felt she had no choice but to accept a major rent increase.
"The current rent I'm paying is $430 and it's increasing to $550 next week," Ms Godbold said.
"I panicked and I thought I'll think about moving, but I couldn't move in six-to-eight weeks.
"I decided to sign a new lease because I thought it's better than being homeless."
Ms Godbold has lived in the home at Boondall, in Brisbane's north, for nearly nine years.
"Even looking at other places, even in the same area, it's just not viable because they're all the same – if not, higher," Ms Godbold said.
"Reality is, everything's going up but wages aren't going up.
"It's mentally hit me hard. It's very, very difficult," she said.
Her story is all too familiar.
Three years ago, in March 2020, nearly half of all advertised Brisbane rental units and houses were listed on realestate.com.au for under $400 a week.
By April this year that had dropped to just 10.9 per cent, a record low according to PropTrack's latest Market Insight Report.
Regional Queensland worst off
In regional Queensland, the share of affordable rentals has fallen from 50.5 per cent in March 2020 to just 19.3 per cent last month.
That's the smallest share recorded in all regional markets.
PropTrack's data shows it's a trend seen across the country.
The total properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au nationally for less than $400 a week fell to 16.2 per cent last month, down from 30 per cent in April 2022 and 42 per cent in March 2020.
The ACT had the smallest share of rentals priced less than $400 per week at just 1.8 per cent, while Perth has seen its share fall the most, dropping 86 per cent since 2020.
'Little reprieve in sight'
PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said demand, driven by rising migration, continues to far outstrip supply of available rentals.
"This is giving landlords the scope to increase rent and is seeing that share of affordable properties continue to decline," Ms Creagh said.
"[Rental] vacancies are at, or close to, historic lows in most markets Australia-wide.
"We've seen … the share of rentals under $400 a week more than halving across the capital cities and hitting a record low in every capital city, except Hobart and Darwin," she said.
The report found there's little reprieve in sight with rents expected to keep rising across the country.
Ms Creagh said inner-city areas of capital cities were experiencing the highest demand.
"Conditions will be particularly challenging for low-income households … they'll find it really tough to avoid spending a larger share of their income on rent," Ms Creagh said.
"Just generally … really any household looking for a rental will find it tough to avoid spending more of their income on rent.
"I'd certainly be surprised if there was any meaningful reprieve for renters over the next few months."
"These supply shortages are set to remain so really, the only sustainable solution to the rental crisis is an increase in supply," she said.
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