TIMES are tough for Sydney renters, but not all landlords are having it their way.

While the overall market remains tight, rental vacancy rates are climbing in upper-middle-class suburbs on the North Shore and in the city's east. Some landlords are now cutting asking prices. However, in parts of western Sydney and some inner suburbs vacancy rates remain less than 2 per cent.

In Mosman, Neutral Bay and Bondi more than 6 per cent of rental properties are on the market. Last year the vacancy rate for these suburbs was as low as 2 per cent, figures published yesterday by SQM Research show.

Part of the problem has been landlords demanding unrealistic prices, said Sarah Davis, the marketing manager for Century 21 Cordeau Marshall in Gordon.

"We are finding that the higher quality homes are more difficult to rent," she said. And renters are moving into cheaper houses.

Ads in local newspapers track the falling market. A four-bedroom Lindfield home advertised at $850 a week last month is now available for $800. A Wahroonga house advertised for $620 last month is going for $520.

But other landlords have not budged. One such is the actor Anthony Warlow, on his $3500-a-week asking price on a Mosman apartment, which has been advertised since April. Sydney's top rental request is $10,000 a week, for a historic house in Bellevue Hill.

Suburbs with high vacancy rates include those with many new apartments. In Homebush Bay the rate is more than 20 per cent and in nearby Liberty Grove it is 9 per cent. However, in Bankstown the vacancy rate is 1.7 per cent, and in Liverpool it is 2.4 per cent.