New data from the Suburbtrends Rental Pain Index reveals the most rent-pressured suburbs in NSW, with Greater Western Sydney having the highest Rental Pain Index.

The Riverina suburb of Deniliquin tops the list with an average rent increase of 18% over the past year and a vacancy rate of just 0.4%.

It was closely followed by the suburbs of Bankstown, Auburn and Punchbowl in Greater Sydney's west, and the suburbs of Corrimal, Tarrawanna and Bellambi in the Illawarra region north of Wollongong.

"The Rental Misery Index (a measure of the financial stress of renting) is highest in Queensland, followed by South Australia and New South Wales," Suburbtrends founder Kent Lardner said.

"This suggests that tenants in these states are currently feeling the most 'rental pain'.

Four NSW suburbs have seen annual rent increases of 20% or more, including Belmore, Belfield, Auburn, Lakemba and Punchbowl.

The lowest vacancy rates were in Lakemba, Auburn, Bankstown, Deniliquin, Belmore and Belfield.

Mr. Lardner said the analysis compared factors such as the percentage of advertised leases, vacancy rates, average 12-month rent increases and average rent as a percentage of income.

"While these figures provide us with a snapshot of the current state of affairs, it is important to remember that the rental market is complex and fluid," he said.

"Factors such as economic conditions, population growth and housing policy all come into play."

NSW's most rent-pressured suburbs

- Deniliquin

- Bankstown

- Auburn

- Bunchbowl

- Corrimal - Tarrawanna - Bellambi

- Lake Mba

- Monterey - Brighton Le Sac - Kiamahe

- San Souci - Ramsgate

- Greenfield Park - Prairiewood

Sydney's housing vacancy rate rose "slightly" in June, up 0.05 percentage points (ppt) to 1.73%, according to a report from PropTrack.

The PropTrack Market Insight report showed that the vacancy rate in the Harbour City rose by 0.28 percentage points over the past three months, but the annual vacancy rate still fell by 0.34 percentage points.

"The 0.28 percentage point quarterly increase is a positive sign of relief for renters," said PropTrack Senior Economist Paul Ryan.

"This is the most significant easing of rental market conditions since the early days of the November 2020 pandemic.

"The slowdown in rental demand has resulted in more rental properties becoming available for rent.

"Despite the slight improvement, conditions remain very tight for renters as Sydney's rental vacancy rate has halved from pre-pandemic levels.

"It remains difficult to find rental accommodation across the country and we expect rents to continue to increase rapidly, putting additional financial pressure on renters."

In regional NSW, vacancy rates remained relatively unchanged in June.