The Rumy Rent Tracker
Melbourne share houses · 2,390 listings · 73 suburbs · observed 30 July 2026
The city-wide census of Melbourne's share-house market — the rooms official rental statistics don't count. Two in three rooms are sitting empty and available today. The premium for bills-included living has collapsed to zero. And a wave of 373 rooms hits the market in August alone as semester two reshuffles the city's renters.
Aggregates only. Computed from 2,390 publicly advertised listings observed across major listing platforms, 30 July 2026. Cite as: the Rumy Rent Tracker, July 2026.
1. The median Melbourne room costs $317 a week.
The spread across the city is stark: a typical room in the uni belts costs $280/wk, while the priciest cluster clears $350.
2. Bills-included is effectively free right now.
59% of rooms advertise bills included — at a lower median rent ($315/wk) than rooms where bills are extra ($320/wk). In a normal market, bundled utilities carry a $20–40 premium. That premium has vanished: a clear signal that hosts are competing hard for tenants.
3. Two-thirds of rooms are empty today.
67% of room listings are marked "available now." Rooms aren't pre-leasing — they're sitting. In a tenant's market, the advertiser who can prove they're trustworthy and compatible wins; everyone else waits.
4. August is turnover month.
Of rooms with a future availability date, 373 open up in August 2026 — 4.6× the September figure. Semester two is the hidden metronome of Melbourne share housing. Anyone searching (or listing) should time their move to the first half of August.
5. Student accommodation now undercuts ordinary share houses.
Rooms in purpose-built student accommodation carry a median of $300/wk versus $320/wk in regular share houses — a reversal of the usual premium, and pressure on ordinary hosts near campuses.
6. Flemington is Melbourne's best-kept share-house secret.
Median room rent of $220/wk — $97 under the city median — across 28 listings. See the Flemington page for the full local read.
Median room rent by cluster
Rooms becoming available, by month
Of rooms advertising a future availability date, 373 open in August — 4.6× the September figure. Semester two is the metronome.
Suburb leaderboards (10+ rooms observed)
| Cheapest | Median | Rooms |
|---|---|---|
| Flemington | $220 | 28 |
| Sunshine | $250 | 15 |
| Burwood | $260 | 39 |
| West Footscray | $267.50 | 16 |
| Clayton | $271.50 | 94 |
| Maidstone | $272 | 18 |
| Balaclava | $275 | 20 |
| Bundoora | $275 | 34 |
| Priciest | Median | Rooms |
|---|---|---|
| Docklands | $400 | 42 |
| Port Melbourne | $400 | 22 |
| Southbank | $400 | 102 |
| Collingwood | $385 | 16 |
| Carlton | $375 | 57 |
| South Melbourne | $375 | 30 |
| South Yarra | $370 | 44 |
| West Melbourne | $351 | 32 |
All 73 suburbs — sortable
| Suburb | Cluster | Rooms | Median /wk | Range /wk | Bills incl. | Avail. now |
|---|
Median, range, bills and availability cells are suppressed where fewer than 5 rooms were observed — at that sample size a "statistic" is really one advertiser's asking rent. Every suburb links to its full local page.
How rents moved since last edition
Time-to-fill by suburb
A room is easy to find. The right housemates aren't.
For seekers: it's a buyer's market. Negotiate. Target the August wave. Look at the value corridor — start with Flemington.
For hosts: 67% of your competition is available today, and price alone no longer differentiates — bills-included is already priced in. Trust and fit are the remaining levers. Rooms that can demonstrate a verified, compatible household fill first.
Looking for a room?
Find a verified household — matched on compatibility, not just rent.
Find a verified householdHow this is measured
Rumy observed 2,390 publicly advertised share-house, room and whole-property listings across major listing platforms on 30 July 2026, spanning 73 Melbourne suburbs. Figures are aggregates computed from advertised weekly rents; room statistics cover the 1,736 listings for single rooms in shared households. No individual listings, images or descriptions are reproduced — this tracker publishes aggregate statistics only, and no figure is attributable to any single advertisement. Medians are used throughout to resist outlier distortion. Suburb rent ranges are suppressed below 5 observed rooms. The tracker is updated quarterly; full suburb-level aggregates are available to journalists on request.
About Rumy. Rumy is an AI-powered compatibility and trust platform for shared housing, built in Melbourne. Rumy verifies who you're living with and matches households on behavioural compatibility — because a room is easy to find, and the right housemates aren't. r-u-my.com