Austin Property Management received 21 messages last weekend from people looking for rentals.

Company officials had to give them the bad news.

“We had to call them back Monday and tell them we had nothing,” said David Furlan, Austin Property Management’s owner. Out of the company’s 340-property portfolio, only one or two are available, he said.

His company is hardly alone.

A recently released survey of more than 4,618 rental properties across the region during the first quarter of the year found just 46 vacancies.

Conducted annually by the Central Oregon Rental Owners Association, the survey for 2013 put the region’s rental vacancy at 1 percent, the lowest by far in the last six years.

Just one of the 204 Bend apartments surveyed this year was available. Six of 251 Redmond apartments were available.

“This is the tightest rental market I’ve ever seen,” said Kevin Restine, the rental owner group’s president and general manager of Plus Property Management in Bend.

Foreclosures forcing people out of their homes, a lack of new rental construction and continued population growth in Bend have combined to push down the supply of available rentals, some rental officials said. The 1 percent vacancy rate is down from 4.4 percent in 2012, and a recession peak of 12.4 percent in 2009.

Low vacancy means rising rents.

The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Bend was $22 more this year than last. Rates for two-bedroom apartments in Bend were $76 more, on average.

The numbers aren’t precise, as the surveys don’t cover every property, and are conducted over the first three months of each year.

But the 2013 survey results highlight just how few properties rental companies have available right now.

Just three of the 132 properties at Free Property Management are vacant right now, owner Matt Free said. Recently, properties listed by Free have gotten anywhere from six to 30 calls from interested renters on the first day.

Supply and demand will eventually lead to more rental homes and apartments, said Restine with Plus Property Management. Several duplex, triplex and apartment complexes have been proposed over the last six months. Most notable is the 104-unit Sage Springs apartment complex near the intersection of Boyd Acres and Ross roads, expected to be ready later this year or in early 2014.

“I think long-term, it’ll turn out to be positive for everyone. When landlords, investors and builders see this type of security in the market, we’ll see more housing,” Restine said.