The Byron and Tweed Shires have maintained their top spots as home to the most expensive rentals in regional NSW, according to Domain’s latest quarterly rent report.
The Byron Shire experienced another hefty 10.5 per cent increase in average weekly rent to $1050 in 2025, while the Tweed Shire climbed 9.1 per cent to $895 per week. The Tweed Shire has the highest growth rate over five years of 59.8 per cent.
The Ballina Shire is catching up with the average now sitting at $800, making it the fourth most expensive shire behind Kiama on the south coast. Domain senior economist Joel Bowman said the overall NSW regional market had outpaced Sydney in annual rent growth.
“Rents in many parts of regional NSW are booming, with population spillover, a bumper agricultural season and ‘rentvestors’ chasing cheaper buys, colliding with a housing drought,” Mr Bowman said.
It is now more expensive to rent in the Byron and Tweed Shires than the broader Sydney market, which had an average advertised rent of $800 per week in the Domain report. The Richmond Valley Shire had the highest increase of 14.5 per cent in 2025 for the North Coast region.
Mark Formaggin, from First National Real Estate in Casino, said a major driver was families priced out of coastal markets like Byron. “Renters have been pushed out of those areas, and they’re moving to the more rural areas like Casino. But adding to that is the fact that we have no supply,” Mr Formaggin said. “Basically, any rentals that become available on Monday, have people moving in on a Friday.”
There has also been some spillover into the neighbouring Lismore LGA, where the average rent rose 11.6 per cent to $650 per week. Rent increases were less steep further down the North Coast with Port Macquarie-Hastings, Port Stephens and Kempsey Shires recording growth of between three and 6.5 per cent. The Coffs Harbour region scored one of the lowest increases of 1.5 per cent.
“House rents were virtually unchanged in the broader Coffs Harbour region. I think one of the reasons for that is affordability constraints as rent has significantly increased over the past five years,” Mr Bowman said. “People’s incomes have just not kept pace with the run up in rents. It is certainly not due to increased supply of housing.”
Mr Bowman said vacancy rates remained tight at 0.9 per cent across the combined regional LGAs, with employment growth, relative affordability and investor demand creating a perfect storm in small markets with limited stock. Most North Coast shires have vacancy rates below the average, with the Coffs Coast region having a rate of 0.7 per cent and Port Macquarie-Hastings Shire just 0.4 per cent.
“A balanced rental market has a vacancy rate of 2.5 per cent, and the North Coast region is well below that,” Mr Bowman said.
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