The housing crisis has become so bad that employers are increasingly having to offer accommodation in an attempt to lure staff, according to real estate economist Nerida Conisbee.

Conisbee says there are now almost as many advertised jobs as there are unemployed people and it comes at a time when there are significant housing shortages, with regional areas likely to have the biggest shortages and rent rises.

In some areas, annual rental growth has been well above 10%.

Conisbee says the Whitsundays, for example, has an unemployment rate of 2.8% and at the same time advertised rents are up by 12.5%. Areas such as Bowen and Airlie Beach in particular are experiencing problems.

In New South Wales the Port Macquarie-Hastings area has an unemployment rate which has declined from 6.2% to just 2.7% in the past year, meaning more people are moving to that area for work.

At the same time, rents increased by almost 20%.