There is now imm-ense pressure for both groups to keep their heads above rising mortgage stress and not join the increasing number of people seeking accommodation help.

REIWA chairwoman Roslyn Ierace said the average house price falling to $372,000 was due to the high end of the market being extremely quiet and houses currently being priced to sell.

Ms Ierace said the people most affected by the fall would be those who had bought their property in the past two years.

They face being in negative equity where their house is worth less than their mortgage.

Bunbury Housing Association project officer Paul Connell said there had been an unprecedented number of enquiries about accommodation, with the main impact being people priced out of affordable rentals.

"Whether in a rental or mortgage, spending more than 30 per cent of disposable income on your housing is a major burden to bear," Mr Connell said.

"I’d well imagine that a large portion of people with a significant mortgage would have that problem," he said.

At last count the association had received 284 applications for accommodation in its 54 properties, including its single men’s guest house, which houses 155 people.