RP Data's December quarter Rental Review shows that rents in capital cities rose 4.2 per cent last year, compared with a 2.9 per cent rise nationally.
"We're expecting that rental growth is actually going to be quite a bit stronger than what we've seen over the last 12 months to 24 months," report's analyst Cameron Kusher told the ABC.
Darwin is now the most expensive Australian city in which to rent a house, after rents grew by 4.2 per cent in capital cities in 2010.
The report showed the median rent for a house in Darwin was $520 per week, followed by Canberra at $490 and Sydney at $430.
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Adelaide claimed the title as the cheapest place to rent a house, with a weekly median of $325, followed by Hobart at $335.
"Across the combined house and unit market, rents increased by $80 per week between March 2006 and December 2008 across the country whilst capital city rents increased by a total of $90 per week," RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher said in a statement on Thursday.
Since December 2008, median weekly advertised rents across the country had increased by just $20, Mr Kusher said.
Within the capital city market, rental growth was slightly higher at $25 per week, with a $5 per week improvement during the last quarter, Mr Kusher said.
The data also showed that the most expensive place to rent, both units and houses, is Western Australia's booming Pilbara mining region, which during during the last quarter recorded a weekly median rent of $1,650 per week. House rents increased a further 10 per cent in that region.
The data also showed median weekly advertised rents for capital city houses increased 1.3 per cent and units 1.4 per cent for the quarter and sit at $380 per week and $365 per week, respectively.
Nationally, rents for houses and units showed no improvement during the December quarter and both houses and units have a median rent of $350 per week.
Currently, the cheapest capital cities to rent units are in Hobart and Adelaide, with each sharing a median rental rate of $285. Perth followed with a median rental rate of $330 per week.
