How much rent to charge: Evoak’s data-driven approach to pricing
Pricing your rental property can feel like a guessing game, especially in Sydney’s ever-changing market. With rent prices rising and falling quickly, it’s natural for landlords to feel nervous about whether they’re charging too much or too little. However, by using a data-driven approach, you can price your property fairly and avoid unwanted vacancy. Harry shares his tips on how to get it right.
Our pricing methodology
When pricing a property, we take into account several key factors. Here’s how we do it:
1. Actual rents achieved for similar properties
We use recent NSW Government bond lodgement data, which shows the actual rents achieved for properties in your area over the past 12 months. While it’s tempting to look at advertised prices, these are ‘asking prices’ that don’t necessarily represent the final lease price - and many agents remove the price from ads once properties (you may have notice ads with “Deposit Taken” instead of the price).
One limitation is that this data only includes the number of bedrooms, the type of property (house, townhouse or apartment), and the rent per week. It doesn’t consider other factors such as the number of bathrooms, features and inclusions, or the specific location within a postcode.
2. Historic rents for your property
Historic rents are a great indicator of what your property should be worth today. Let’s say your property rented for $800 in 2022, and at that time, the median rent in your suburb was $650. That means your property was rented for about 123% of the median price. If the median rent today is $850, applying the same 123% multiplier would give you a new rent estimate of around $1,046.
Keep in mind, this may be less accurate if there have been major changes in the area - like new developments or infrastructure.
3. The competition
It’s important to review what else is currently available on the market. We consider advertised rents for all equivalent-quality properties in the suburb and adjust for time on market. This is because if a property has been listed for more than two weeks, it’s often a sign that the rent is too high.
The price range for your property would therefore sit between the lowest-priced equivalent property and the highest-priced equivalent property that’s been on the market for less than two weeks.
4. Property features
Aside from the basics (like the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and parking spots), certain features can command higher rent. These may include:
Air conditioning (especially in non-coastal areas)
Lift access (for units)
Size of living space(s)
Level of natural light
Storage
Type of parking (open space vs carport vs lockup garage)
Based on past experience, our team has a good feel for the incremental rent that may be achievable based on features like these.
5. Inspection attendance and applications received: A real-time check
Pricing isn’t set in stone and can be adjusted after the first inspection if needed. Sometimes it’s worth listing the property at the higher end of your expected range and then using the first inspection to gauge market interest.
The number of attendees at inspections and even more importantly, the number of applications that follow, are the best indicators of what the market thinks of your price. If more than 10 groups attend, your property might be priced too low. An ideal number is between 4-8 groups at a Saturday inspection.
Additionally, applicants are able to nominate the amount of rent offered - which should also be taken into account.
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Let’s take a look at an example from Erskineville, a popular suburb in Sydney’s Inner West. An apartment was listed in mid 2024 with the following details:
Advertised price: $1,300 per week
Days on market: 30
Apartment features: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 car space
Factors to Consider
Recent rents achieved:
In the prior month, the most expensive two-bedroom apartment in Erskineville was rented for $1,270, with the median rent sitting at $950 per week.
Historic rent:
The property hadn’t been rented before, but a very similar apartment in the same building was rented at the end of 2023 at a premium of around 20% above the median rent. Applying that same premium to today’s median would suggest a rent of approximately $1,150.
Competition:
At the time, there were 16 similar properties listed in the area with prices ranging from $830 to $1,300. Ignoring properties that had been on the market for over 14 days, the competitive price range was between $930 and $1,200.
Conclusion
Given these factors, the $1,300 asking price was likely too high, and a fairer price would have been closer to $1,150.
Properties listed in that range had been on the market for a shorter time and were attracting more interest.
The property was reduced to $1190 per week and leased shortly after. Had this property been listed at a fairer market price by using the above pricing approach, the landlord could have earned an incremental $3500 in rent by reducing the vacancy by several weeks.
The overpricing trap
It’s common to see new listings appear at premium prices, which are then reduced over several weeks of vacancy, some even then renting for below market rate.
Overpricing your property can be risky. Each extra week vacant means you’d need to raise the rent by around 2% for the rest of a 1 year lease just to make up for the lost income. This can add up quickly.
There are other risks too, which might not always seem obvious…
Fewer applications to choose from
Pricing your property competitively means you’re likely to attract more applicants, giving you the flexibility to choose an applicant based on non-price factors that may be important. For example:
Ability to move-in straight away (avoiding unnecessary vacancy)
Preferred length of lease
Number of occupants
Poorly attended open homes
Fewer attendees signal lower demand to those present, so can prompt potential tenants to negotiate the rent down.
Perception issues
If your property stays on the market for too long, people may wonder if something’s wrong with it. Some property portals let users sort properties by time on the market (oldest to newest and vice versa), which can hurt your listing.
Final Thoughts
Pricing your rental property correctly is crucial to minimising vacancy and securing good tenants. While it’s tempting to strive for a premium rental amount, a data-driven approach that considers actual rents, historic performance, and competition will help you find the right balance.
Curious to see how this method works for your property? Get in touch with and let us help you find the perfect rental price.
