I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it doesn't appear to be getting any easier to find a rental property.

The research team at SQM have released their findings for January.

They found national vacancy rates decreased to 1.1 per cent in January, from 1.3 per cent in December.

Perth continues to be the hardest place to find a property, with a vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent (it was the same rate this time a year ago!)

This table shows you the number or properties available for rent across the capital cities.

There are just over 32,000 properties available for rent in Australia - there were 39,797 available in December.

That pressure has seen asking rents rise 1.4 per cent over the 30 days to February 14.

In last 12 months asking rents have jumped 13.1 per cent nationally.

In my many interviews with people in the real estate business, from agents to analysts to data crunchers, asking rents (the price on the add) is one thing, but in a competitive market such as this, would-be tenants routinely offer more than the asking price in a desperate attempt to secure a home.

So I think it's fair to expect while the median advertised price in Australia is $614.54/week, it's likely higher than that.

The Managing Director of SQM, Louis Christopher isn't surprised by the sharp decline in rental vacancy through January.

"Most likely the fall in rental vacancies was driven by increased demand from tertiary students following the start of campus semesters for 2024.

"As well as graduates entering the workforce for the first time.

"It is a seasonal demand increase we see at the start of each and every year but is most certainly problematic due to the fact the current rental market remains in crisis."

He added, population changes will continue to weigh on the rental market.

"Going forward, our best-case scenario for renters is that the population growth rate slows considerably this year to an increase of about 360,000 people which would likely mean a stabilisation in rents starting from the June quarter.

"The worse case is population continues to boom at current rates."

Would you care to share your rental experience? Use the comment box at the top of the page to let me know how you're going.