A lot is happening in the housing space in Tasmania and Australia at the moment:

• renters in Tasmania have gained the right to keep a pet unless the is a valid reason for the landlord to deny;
• the Federal Government announced the phasing out of capital gains tax concessions and negative gearing for new property investors;
• the Tasmanian government is consulting on the modernisation of the Residential Tenancy Act; and
• the Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot recently published their grimmest findings yet: out of the shrinking numbers of homes available for rent in Tasmania, none were deemed affordable for single parent families on Single Parent Payments, young people on Youth Allowance, Tasmanians receiving a Disability Support Pension or single Tasmanians on Jobseeker.

The Tasmanian Rents March Quarter 2026 confirms that the ongoing housing availability and affordability crisis is not easing yet.

All across the state weighted median rents are increasing, most prominently in the North and North-West with quarter changes of 5 and 3.1 per cent and year changes of 11.7 and 12.4 per cent, respectively. Weighted median rent in the South are higher than the latter, but may be inching closer to the affordability ceiling with a comparatively moderate increase of 1.7 per cent over the quarter and a year change of 8.1 per cent.

In 3-bedroom homes we saw high increases in some areas with small populations like Central Coast (+$40pw), Central North (+$85pw) and Central South (+$40pw). However, the small number of rental properties for rent in these areas mean that data is more easily skewed and less representative.

In urban areas there appears to be a trend of higher increases in the outer suburbs while increases in the inner-city suburbs grow more slowly: 3-bedroom rents in Outer Launceston increased by $30 per week compared to the December quarter, in Glenorchy the increase was $25 and renters in Kingston and on the Eastern Shore had to pay an additional $20 for renting a 3-bedroom home. Meanwhile, rents for similar homes in Hobart and Inner Launceston “only” increased by $15 and $10, respectively.

At $685 per week in Hobart and $560 per week in Inner Launceston, homes would be deemed unaffordable for the median Tasmanian household income!

Find the full Tasmanian Rents March Quarter 2026 publication as well as older editions here.

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