The Illawarra has featured prominently in a report showcasing the worst suburbs in NSW for "rental pain".
Tenants in some parts of the region could be spending more than 40 per cent of their household income on rent.
That's according to the latest Rental Pain Index from Suburbtrends, which as of January 2024 paints a dire picture of the Australian rental market.
Read more: Expert predicts easing in rental conditions in the Illawarra in 2024
For NSW, Warilla ranks as the No.1 worst place for renters right now.
In the list of worst 25 suburbs in NSW, Warilla has a Rental Pain Index of 100, and an average 12-month rental increase of eight per cent.
And in terms of rental affordability, Warilla renters typically spend 44 per cent of household income on rent.
This is compared to the October 2023 report, which revealed that renters in Warilla could expect to be paying 43 per cent of their income on their rent, bringing it in at number 11 in NSW for rental pain.
Other Illawarra locations to make the top 25 list for NSW were Berkeley/Lake Heights/Cringila, Dapto/Avondale, Unanderra/Mount Kembla, and Albion Park Rail (see the heat map above for more details).
Chloe Lawton, 25, has been renting in Unanderra for the past seven months.
Ms Lawton, who works part-time in administration, and two friends are spending $600 a week for a three-bedroom house with an enclosed front and backyard.
"It was hard to find," she said.
"And it was after seven months of searching, which was stressful."
Ms Lawton said they haven't had a rental increase yet, but were "curious" and mindful that one may occur at the 12-month mark, and said they "always" had to be careful with budgeting in order to pay the rent.
Kent Lardner, founder of Suburbtrends said rent increases were still causing pain in 2024, despite the size of rent hikes being lower than last year.
"For example, the NSW top 25 had an average increase of 16 per cent last time," he said. "We are now seeing less significant jumps in rent prices in percentage terms, with the average of the top 25 list now being up 12 per cent.
"That is still a huge increase, but certainly a significant shift down compared to being plus 16 per cent.
"As a result, the top 25 list appears to be surfacing locations with low affordability and low vacancy rates.
"Unfortunately this appears to be many lower socio-economic areas with lower incomes, which places immense pressure on those who can least afford it."
Mr Lardner said Warilla and surrounding suburbs all have very high scores, creating a lot of pressure on local renters.
"The biggest drivers of these alarmingly high scores are the ongoing rental increases, which average at plus seven per cent for the worst affected suburbs," he said.
"This is also pushing affordability to breaking point, which on average is resulting in 35 per cent of household income on average being allocated to rents for the worst 13 suburbs on the list.
"Warilla has faced a surge in rents and a drop in vacancies. I would argue this is the result of it being located amongst the most affordable suburbs in the Illawarra.
"As renters feel the squeeze in other more expensive suburbs, they migrate to those more affordable places and can often outbid the locals if they have higher incomes."
Petreace Bush, director at Illawarra Estate Agents said there was rental stock available in the region, but the current price-point for many of them was a barrier for plenty of renters.
"People are willing to spend a little more now, but it's still tight... At the same time, the owners need the higher rent to make sure they can pay off their loans and everything else that's gone up at their end," she said.
"Rental prices start up high, (but) we have seen quite a lot having to reduce it down to try and get a tenant in there, (otherwise) it's a couple of weeks that it's just sitting there, and the owners need income.
"It used to be that you wouldn't spend any more than 30 per cent of your income on rent, but it's way over that now. Some people are spending more than 50 per cent of their weekly income on rent."
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