The Real Estate Institute's latest survey results released this week show rental availability has not improved in the region with just 0.7 per cent vacancy recorded in August.

The Riverina is ranked fourth lowest for rental availability out of the 12 NSW regions included in the data. Real Estate Institute CEO Tim McKibbin said a 0.7 per cent vacancy rate roughly translates to "there's nothing available" and would be expected to increase rent prices significantly.

Saint Vincent de Paul's Peter Burgess said the community's renters are feeling the squeeze and increasing numbers of people have been approaching the charity for help in recent months.

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"For us, we see an increasing number of people coming and looking for rent assistance," he said.

VERTO's tenancy advocacy and support services branch said the number of people seeking support in Wagga has jumped by almost 80 per cent in the past six months. Around 35 per cent of clients were considered at risk of homelessness.

"What we are being advised by a significant portion of our clients is that it is exceptionally difficult to find suitable affordable housing in the Wagga Wagga region," VERTO CEO Ron Maxwell said.

"This difficulty in Wagga Wagga is significantly magnified for tenants who have had a less than perfect tenancy experience in the past and cannot demonstrate a good rental record."

Kitson Property's Belle Humbert said stock is so low, many of their rental listings don't make it to the website before they're snapped up.

"If we get a notice people are moving out we often don't need to advertise, we can secure a tenant from one of the applications we already have," she said.

She estimated most rents across the city have gone up by around $50 in just 12 months, driven by competitive arrivals from metro areas and the lack of houses.

"There's a lot of people still coming to town from the major cities which makes it difficult for people who have lived here for a long time," Ms Humbert said. "They definitely are more competitive, they come from inflated wages compared to regional wages and people are offering ridiculous things like paying three months up front.

"It's hard to compete for the average person."

Mr Burgess said it's not just the most vulnerable being impacted - people with stable incomes are also being squeezed out in the tight market.

"It's not just the needy who are really struggling, it's also people who have reasonable income jobs," he said. "There is the stress of the rent being raised, and people know rentals are very scare so there's stress when their lease is up."

Mr Burgess said low housing availability has a greater impact than almost any other commercial shortage and is particularly hard on families.

"How do you keep a family together when you don't have a home to come back to every night?" he asked.

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