Families looking to rent are also finding that the amount of properties available have dried up dramatically.

There are hopes in the local real estate industry that the rising rents would speed up people who are considering buying a home.

While rents have rocketed for homes, units have remained steady at $290 according to Real Estate Institute of WA statistics.

A REIWA spokesman said this suggested that families may be leading the charge to snap up rentals.

The current vacancy rate is extremely low at 1.5 percent – half of what it was this time last year.

Five years ago more than a third of the Bunbury population were renters who paid $170 a week, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Harcourts Bunbury director Richard Morgan said cost of renting had grown because of pressure being put on the market by population and employment growth.

“Migration is not going to go backwards and we will need people because of our high employment,” Mr Morgan said.

Bunbury rental hunter Melissa Piggott said she was shocked to see the rise in prices.

She and a friend have to find a new rental after their landlord decided to move back in to their three bedroom, two bathroom home on Hayes Street.

Ms Piggott and her friend paid $300 a week for the past 18 months to live near the city – a price she said was now impossible to find.

“There is a unit down the street from us but it’s tiny and that’s from $330 a week,” the teacher said.

“There are a couple of others but they’re one bedroom and bathroom.”

The most comparable rental they have found was in Eaton.

They are now attending viewings of rental properties held by real estate companies.

Mr Morgan said the rental price was reaching a critical point where people would consider purchasing a property.

“On a full $300,000 loan you pay just under $500 a week which makes (current rent prices) very comparable to owning your own home.”