Rental values in Lake Macquarie East have risen 21.5 per cent in the year to April 30 - the third highest jump in regional NSW and seventh highest in regional Australia.
Newcastle had an annual rent value rise of 14.9 per cent in the same period, the 14th highest rise in regional NSW.
The data was presented by CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen in a national seminar about regional housing demand, organised by the Regional Australia Institute.
Ms Owen said there were several factors contributing to high prices and decreased availability of housing in regional areas.
Net internal migration to regional Australia jumped to a record high in December 2020, with a net gain of 42,791 people - more that double that of the year before.
Ms Owen said with less people moving from regional areas, less homes were being listed for sale, affecting stock levels and driving prices up.
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Newcastle had the most dwelling sales in regional NSW and the third highest in the country in the 12 months to February 2021. There were 3744 homes sold in the 12-month period, a year on year increase of 9.9 per cent.
But the residential sales to new listings ratio for regional Australia is currently sitting above one.
"Which suggests total listings continue to remain depleted, because there are more sales than properties being added to market," Ms Owen said. "It's that strong absorption rate that's keeping stock levels very low."
There is an even bigger divergence between the capitals and regional areas in the rental market, Ms Owen said.
Rental values across regional Australia have increased almost 10 per cent in the year to April, which was almost three times that of capital cities. The gap between rent prices in the capital cities and regional areas has also come down to a historic low of 8.8 per cent.
"Rental stock has virtually halved across major regional centres like Bunbury, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Hunter Valley," she said.
"A year ago we might have seen properties on the market for about 29 days on average, that's come down to about 17 days as of April."
