Those looking to rent are facing a never-ending mountain of rental prices as conditions continue to keep vacancy rates below 1 per cent.

Rental vacancies are at 0.7 per cent in WA, while rent prices have increased 17 per cent since April 22, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

REIWA President Cath Hart said those numbers will not come anywhere near improving until stress on properties and mortgages is eased.

“The average monthly mortgage repayment has gone up by about 44 per cent, so people who’ve got a mortgage are certainly feeling a lot of stress and we do expect we’ll see some upwards pressure on rent over the next couple of months,” Ms Hart said.

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