With the Hunter's vacancy rate hitting 1.3 per cent in July, down from 1.8 per cent in June and 2.4 per cent in May, finding and securing a rental property has become an increasingly difficult task.

Tim Mitchell and his wife Melissa went to "at least" 20 inspections over a three-month period before recently landing a rental in Stockton for their family of five.

A self-employed floor and wall tiler with consistent work, Mr Mitchell, 45, said he had never found it so hard to get into a new home.

"You [usually] look at one and they say, 'do you want it?' It's as simple as that," he said. "Now, it's just ridiculous. It got to the point where we were going to live in a caravan in the in-laws backyard.

"The same 25 people rock up at every house. It's just disheartening, you kind of just go 'well, what's the point of going to look at houses?'."

The Mitchells' struggle to secure a rental home is replicated across the region.

"I've never seen it so competitive," Creative Property Group principal Lucas Gresham said. "It is actually really quite intense. It's crazy.

"We have applicants that are squeaky clean, and that good, perfect tenants that are still having to offer 12 months up front and more rent than is being asked for."

READ MORE: HUNTER PROPERTY NEWS

Leah Jay's vacancy rate has dropped to 0.4 per cent. Of the 4200 properties it manages, only 53 were available this week and 16 were vacant.

"Over our 26 years in property management, this might be one of the hardest times for tenants searching for a property," Leah Jay manager Pippa Rowntree said.

Less property turnover, more people relocating from outside the region and fewer investors buying properties is causing the competitive market, local agents say.

"Uncertainty in the market will typically make tenants sit tight and stay in their current rental which means we aren't getting the usual property turn-over that we would often see throughout the year," Ms Rowntree said.

"Coupled with movement from Sydneysiders that no longer need to be in the city to work and are looking to save money, as well as people reassessing their living situations due to employment and lifestyle reasons, there are fewer properties.

"Another factor we are seeing is first home buyers edging investors out of the sales market, resulting in fewer new properties for tenants."

Chad Dunn, of Mulligan Property Group in Wallsend, said it had become particularly difficult for those who did not have secure work.

"If you go to a rental property at the moment in the Newcastle area, and you're looking at $300 through to $500, you can expect 30 groups of people," he said.

"We are starting to see, since COVID, people that, especially single women and single men, might have lost their job - it's very hard for them to get a rental."

Mr Gresham said he had seen "a lot of movement from Sydney" with people keen to try before they buy.

"We're seeing people move and I think a lot of people are like, 'we're going there, we can go and work there from home and basically we're going to try it first'," he said.

"I think the numbers have really increased from out of area. From inner-city to these regional and coastal areas, up here is really cheap."

While prospective tenants are struggling to secure a property, landlords are renting properties with ease.

The high demand is allowing them to increase rents or accept higher offers from those willing to pay more.

"It's a struggle when people are willing to pay a year in advance," Mr Mitchell said.

"The house we were in was $570. It's now $570 to $600.

"So if you're not paying that full amount, if you don't offer the highest bid, you just don't get a place."

Mr Gresham said some rents had jumped more than 15 per cent in recent months.

"If I had something become available now, I'd have it rented in 15 minutes. The amount of people coming in every day, I'm saying, 'sorry, I just don't have one for you'."

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