Regions lead rental growth

The latest Trade Me Property Rental Index shows that median weekly rents rose just $10 across New Zealand in July to reach $440.

This was a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, but follows an upwards surge in rents in June.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said there was “a stark contrast” between the residential for sale market and the state of the rental market.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen the national average asking price across leap more than $100,000, while the median rent has gone up just $45 from $395 to $440 per week.”

Rental growth has been even slower in Auckland, with a year-on-year increase of just 3%.

The Trade Me Property data shows that Super City median weekly rents went up by just $15 in the last year to reach $510 a week.

There was no increase in the city’s median weekly rent between June and July.

Jeffries said the contrast between for sale and for rent prices was particularly pronounced in Auckland.

“Average asking prices have gone up more than $200,000 since July 2014, while median rents have only ticked up $50 per week over the same period.”

However, many regions around the country have been turning in far stronger rental growth figures.

All the regions – apart from Taranaki (no change), the West Coast (down 4.2%) and Canterbury (down 7.1%) - reported year-on-year median weekly rent increases.

Jeffries said the so-called “halo” regions around Auckland have all seen significant rental price growth.

Median weekly rents were up by 8.8% in the Waikato, by 13.9% in the Bay of Plenty, and by 11.1% in Northland.

Not only has the Waikato region seen strong rental growth but, in July, it was the only region to hit a new record high of $370 a week.

While rents remained relatively stagnant across all property sizes, there was a bright spot for Auckland landlords in the apartment rental market.

Over May and June, median weekly rents in the market eased back from a record high of $490 per week in April.

But July saw the median weekly rent for Auckland apartments bounce back to $470, which was a year-on-year increase of 4.4%.

Jeffries said this showed continued strength in demand, despite a large number of new apartments coming on to the market in Auckland.

Meanwhile, Christchurch’s rental market has become a tenant’s market.

Trade Me Property’s data shows the city’s median asking rents fell for the 15th consecutive month in July.

They are down from a peak of $495 per week to the current level of $400 per week.

Jeffries said now that Christchurch has a stable supply of available rental properties the market is seeing much more realistic rents.

“It’s been solid at $400 per week for the last three months and we don’t see this changing significantly any time soon.”