Rents, tenant demand only up slightly: Trade Me

It covers the second quarter of the year and shows the number of properties available for rent and tenant inquiry levels are up just 2% on a year ago.

Nationally, average asking rents rose by an average of $6 to $417 per week.

Head of Trade Me Property Brendon Skipper said there had been some talk of a rental shortage, but the analysis suggested if there was one, it was not severe.

“There are pockets where it’s definitely tough going for tenants, but nationally  the year-on-year numbers are only slightly up for demand, and this is matched by a tick up in the number of listings.”

Palmerston North and Wellington were challenging for prospective tenants because supply was tightening. “In terms of available listings, Palmy and the capital saw supply decline even more than Christchurch which is unusual,” he said.

Skipper said the Christchurch recovery effort remained “a magnet” for temporary workers.

“There’s been continued double-digit growth in the level of inquiries from prospective tenants in Christchurch, which is still the strongest of any region. The light at the end of the tunnel is that inquiry levels have decelerated and are up 16% this time around, having been up 30% in the first quarter.”

Skipper said tenants in Christchurch were still being “squeezed” with asking rents up 22% on a year ago, compared with the national rise of just 3%.

Auckland remained the most expensive region to rent a property, with an average weekly rent of $494, followed by Canterbury at $480 and Wellington at $408.

The most expensive rental property listed on Trade Me in the quarter was a house in Takapuna available for $5000 per week,  while the cheapest was a property in Ohakune available for $45 per week.