One of the things I like about the reporting in this Austin article, is they break down by building class.

In Melbourne I've never found a good source for this, only general averages; and my suspicions are that we just build shitboxes and claim the rent is lower on average, capturing something like shrinkflation rather than affordability.

I was apartment hunting in Melbourne in 2015 and I was appalled at the quality of most inner-city apartments. Tiny shoeboxes, no sunlight, paper thin walls.

At the time I didn't think they should have been allowed to be built. But looking back, they probably did keep a lid on rents. A bad roof over your head is better than no roof.

You should be able to identify properties and track them over time; and then even if you argue that "brand new condo" vs "same condo 10/20/30 years later" aren't directly comparable; well you can start to compare other metrics.