Rents flat in February, defying hopes for rises

Rents remained broadly flat across New Zealand in February, defying the hopes of property investors that reduced supply of new housing and landlord demand for higher yields would boost rents. Rents were weakest for two bedroom apartments in Auckland. Monthly rental data obtained by interest.co.nz from the Department of Building and Housing's Tenancy Bond Services division shows the national median rent was unchanged at NZ$300 per week in February from NZ$300 in January and was also unchanged from a year ago. This is slightly surprising in that the median often rises in February from January because of an upsurge in demand from students, but this did not happen for the national median this year. The national median for a 3 bedroom house was flat at NZ$310, while the national median for a two bedroom flat rose to NZ$250 from NZ$245 in January and was down from NZ$270 a year ago. The Auckland 3 bedroom median fell to NZ$447 from NZ$450 in January, but was up from NZ$430 a year ago. The Auckland 2 bedroom flat median was up at NZ$310 from NZ$300 in January, but was down from NZ$330 a year ago. * This article was first published in our daily subscription newsletter for the banking and finance industries. The email costs NZ$365 per annum and carries exclusive news and analysis for New Zealand banking and finance industry executives, regulators and investors. Sign up for a free trial here.