The number of empty property rental homes surged more than 12 per cent last month and the rate of growth in rental asking prices slowed, but experts warned that the apparent easing in the rental housing crisis would be short-lived.

Vacancies nationwide increased for the third consecutive month in April, rising nearly 4000 to 36,785 and lifting the share of empty rental properties to 1.2 per cent, data from SQM Research shows.