THERE will be no mad dashing around to inspect "for sale" properties for Robert Byrne and Emer Francis this morning.

Reunited at Sydney Airport on Thursday night, the Irish lovebirds are tossing up between a day trip or just spending the day in their new one-bedroom rental flat in the Balmain Shores complex in Rozelle.

As first-home buyers rush head-first into the market, pushing up prices, the couple have decided renting is cheaper. "House prices have just gone through the roof with this first-home buyers grant. I say forget about it," Mr Byrne, 33, said.

After four years living in Australia, interrupted by a brief stint working in China, Mr Byrne is ready to settle, but not if it means taking on a huge mortgage. "I think long-term it's really not a good idea everybody getting mortgaged to the hilt. Interest rates are only going to go one way - and that's up again."

It's not that renting is cheap; his one-bedroom apartment costs $500 a week. It's just that buying is even more expensive.

"You can just forget about it at the moment in Balmain, unless you're a millionaire."

"Ren ting, at the moment, is definitely much cheaper, even in more expensive places like Balmain."

NSW Department of Housing figures show the median weekly rent on a one-bedroom apartment in Rozelle rose 11.3 per cent last year to $445. A one-bedroom flat in nearby Leichhardt or Lilyfield rose 24.5 per cent to $330.

"I spent quite a lot of time trying to find a one-bedroom in the inner west and it was like gold dust. The landlords can ask for any price."

But in neighbouring Balmain, the rent on a one-bedroom flat dropped 12.5 per cent to $350 in the final three months of last year, hinting that rent increases may be reaching a plateau.

Jessica Irvine