Come and get taken for a ride on the big city rental markets. This service goes from the city to Whoop Whoop. First stop Exorbitant, then Expensive, Overpriced, and all stations to Whoop Whoop. Please keep your aspirations inside the carriage at all times.

Although drawn from share-house data, these maps from Flatmates.com.au clearly show the high price of proximity in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

In Sydney, a room in an inner city share house can quickly climb to $350/week. Finding anywhere under $200 will mean a lengthy daily commute though. Factor in $48.20 for train fares and ten 50 minute train rides to work each week, and the difference between Fairfield ($198) and Sydney ($326) comes down to $16/day rent, or nearly 2 hours each day squeezed in the train

Rent a room in	Work in	Room Rent / Week	Train / Week	Total	Train Time	Travel premium
City	City	$326	$0	$326	0 hrs/week
Ashfield	City	$198	$48.20	$246.20	8.3 hrs/week	$9.60 / hr

 

Room rates in Melbourne are certainly more affordable than in Sydney, with the most desirable suburbs still under $300. Melbourne’s market doesn’t drop as sharply though, with a wide selection of suburbs in the $250-$200 range.

Brisbane is a little more affordable again, but maintains the trend of being around twice as expensive in the inner city as the suburban fringes.

At Microburbs, all of our convenience reports give commute times to local work centres to help you get to really know an area.