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Rental properties in Perth are being taken at breakneck speed despite affordability falling to a six-year low, new data suggests.
The time it took Perth homes to be leased after listing on realestate.com.au fell to an average low of 15 days in October.
Total rental listings in the West Australian capital have halved compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, according to the data released by PropTrack on Wednesday.
It comes as the state government considers recommendations aimed at helping renters, including removing "no grounds" evictions and allowing tenants to make minor modifications to properties without seeking the owner's consent.
The Real Estate Institute of WA has lobbied against the proposed changes which it says would result in an exodus of investors.
An analysis of rental bond records by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, published this week, found similar reforms in NSW and Victoria had made little impact on investment.
Only 14 per cent of investors surveyed by the institute nominated dissatisfaction with tenancy laws as "very important" in their decision to sell properties.
Report co-author Chris Martin, from the City Futures Research Centre at UNSW, said tenancy law reforms had facilitated private rental market growth.
"The sector is dominated by small-holding landlords who frequently transfer properties into and out of private rental according to their individual circumstances and the wider housing market conditions," Dr Martin said.
"The reality is the Australian private rental sector is built for both investing and disinvesting, and that's what landlords do."
Perth's rental vacancy rate remained steady at 0.7 per cent in October, according to the Real Estate Institute of WA.
A separate report this week found rental affordability in Perth had fallen to its lowest point since 2016, with the average household paying 24 per cent of its income on rent.
The finding was contained in the Rental Affordability Index, issued once a year by SGS Economics, National Shelter, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Beyond Bank.
