According to Real Estate Institute of WA data,there were 2786 properties for rent on its website;53 per cent below the same time last year.
This drop has led to an increase in Perth’s median rent by $25 to $375 per week compared to 2019,but REIWA president Damian Collins has flagged a 20 per cent increase by March.
Mr Collins said,unlike previous rental crises,investors were not piling into the market to increase supply,an anomaly he blamed on a lack of investor confidence.
"It is a lack of investor confidence which is making a tough situation worse,"he told Radio 6PR's Gareth Parker on Wednesday.
"This time around,the lack of investors is very surprising,the last time we had vacancy rates this low we had investors finance nearly a billion dollars a month,right now we're tracking at about $300 million a month."
"The first thing is the lack of capital growth over the last five years,people are hoping for capital growth and most investors,unfortunately,get in right toward the peak of the market when they think everything is going up and never-ending."
Mr Collins also blamed the rent increase and eviction moratorium brought in by the state government during the COVID-19 pandemic,which is due to end in March.