‘Sunny room’ listed for rent at ₹81,000 a month is actually a balcony in Sydney: ‘Paying for the view’

The balcony of an apartment in the heart of Sydney was listed for rent as a “room” at an astonishing 360 Australian dollars a week (over ₹81,000 a month), leaving the internet baffled.

An advertisement posted on FaceBook Marketplace earlier this month listed a “room” for rent Haymarket in the central business district of Sydney, Australia's largest city.

In the listing, the balcony is described as a “sunny room” that accommodates one person. The rent of $360 a week includes bills, the ad said.

According to the photo in the listing, the room is a tiled enclosed space, equipped with amenities like blinds, a couple of rugs, a mirror, a single bed and a chest of drawers.

The balcony has glass sliding doors and floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The sliding door connects the balcony to the rest of the property which is a two-bedroom apartment, available for rent separately for $1300 a week, including bills.

The advertiser wrote, "Share bathroom with only 1 ppl.”

The same post was shared on X (former Twitter), with a caption, “Are you kidding me bro?”

(Also Read: Mumbai woman’s post on high rentals in financial capital of India goes viral: ‘Ma baap se bana ke rakho’)

“You're paying for the view,” a user said on the Instagram post by New York Post.

“They can't unless it has running water and heat. It's illegal,” another user said.

Sydney's housing crisis is real

Cities such as Sydney in Australia are facing a massive housing crisis, with Sydney's median rent at a record high of $750 a week in the 2024 June quarter, 9News reported, citing the latest data from Domain found.

Sydney is the 11th most expensive city in the world for HNWIs (high new worth individuals), according to the latest report by Swiss private bank Julius Baer.

(Also Read: Noida man’s post on paying ₹64,000 as rent sparks disbelief: ‘More than Bangalore!’)