Landlords pushing up rents

It says that over the past quarter the national median weekly rent moved up 3.4%, from $290 to $300. On an annual basis the national median was up 7.1% compared with February 2007.

The survey, using Department of Building and Housing statistics on grouped in the main Territorial Local Authorities, shows that Upper Hutt, Invercargill. Lower Hutt and Napier all experienced the biggest rent increases on a percentage basis, raising 28.38% in Upper Hutt, 18.75% in Invercargill and 15.38% in Lower Hutt.

Massey cautions the Upper Hutt figure should be treated with caution due to the small sample size.
The areas with the highest weekly rent, on a dollar basis are: North Shore $400, Wellingtin $390, and Auckland and Manakau on $350 each.

For more information on rents and to compare different areas around New Zealand go to Landlords.co.nz, Housing Statistics section.