Across Australia - renters are often competing with hundreds of others for a single unit. Some people are forced out of the market entirely - resorting to couch surfing and other makeshift arrangements just to get by. 

In the last 12 months, the average rental price has gone up 10 per cent in capital cities - marking a record high in annual rent growth - while wages have only risen by three per cent in the same period. 

Yet this crisis - affecting people of many backgrounds - is anything but new.Today, property reporter for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald Jim Malo on whether we’ve reached a breaking point.

Across Australia - renters are often competing with hundreds of others for a single unit. Some people are forced out of the market entirely - resorting to couch surfing and other makeshift arrangements just to get by.  In the last 12 months, the average rental price has gone up 10 per cent in capital cities - marking a record high in annual rent growth - while wages have only risen by three per cent in the same period.  Yet this crisis - affecting people of many backgrounds - is anything but new.Today, property reporter for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald Jim Malo on whether we’ve reached a breaking point.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.