Demand pressures on south-east Queensland's rental market is pushing the cost of renting to historic highs, as the state experiences the strongest population growth in the country.

Greater Brisbane has seen average weekly rents rise from around $395 a week in 2018 to $460 this year.

On the Gold Coast, those figures have jumped from $450 a week to $590.

Cameron Kusher from Proptrack says the pandemic and recent flooding has not helped the housing market.

"It's kind of been this perfect storm that's put this upwards pressure on rents at a time when the supply of rental properties has really reduced," he said.

"What we desperately need is more rental stock."

Over the last five years, rents in Brisbane have increased by 20.1 per cent, almost 40 per cent on the Gold Coast, 35 per cent on the Sunshine Coast and nearly 22 per cent in Ipswich.

Aimee McVeigh from the Queensland Council of Social Services said the current climate was forcing more people into homelessness.

"Our members - who have been working in the community services sector for 40 plus years, are saying they have never seen a crisis like this," she said.

"The biggest reason that people approach specialist homelessness services is domestic and family violence."

Experts say rents are likely to continue rising throughout the year due to lack of supply.

"It will probably ease a little bit on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts but we're still expecting rents to rise," he said.

SOURCE: https://www.9news.com.au/national/surge-in-queensland-rental-demand-pushes-historic-price-highs/680fa2b4-121e-4b68-872b-853bcf032731