Residential rents flatlined in the June quarter (Q2) of this year, but are up by an average of $30 a week compared to a year ago.
According to bond data from Tenancy Services, the national median rent was $600 a week in Q2 this year, unchanged from Q1.
But it was up by $30 a week (5.3%) compared to Q2 last year.
Those trends were also reflected in the national median rents for the main types of rental housing.
The median rent for three bedroom houses was unchanged between Q1 and Q2 this year at $650 a week, but was up $30 a week (4.8%) compared to Q2 last year.
Similarly, the median rent for two bedroom apartments/units was unchanged between Q1 and Q2 this year at $600 a week, and was up $25 a week (4.3%) compared to Q2 last year.
Median rents for one bedroom apartments/units were the most stable, increasing $10 a week to $460 (+2.2%) in Q2, after remaining flat on $450 a week for the previous four quarters.
Rental activity also appears to be relatively flat, with Tenancy Services receiving 34,788 bonds in Q2 this year, barely changed (-0.4%) compared to Q2 last year.
Of the 41 main urban districts for which interest.co.nz monitors rental trends, 20 recorded an increase in their median rent between Q1 and Q2 this year, 12 recorded no change and nine recorded declines. See the table below for the full district-by-district figures.
The Orakei Ward in Auckland (see the ward map below) is the most expensive district in the country to rent a home, with a median rent of $780 a week, just ahead of Queenstown-Lakes at $775.
It was a tie between Timaru and Invercargill for the cheapest place to rent, both having median rents of $450 a week.
Queenstown-lakes posted the biggest quarterly increase of $75 a week in Q2, while Dunedin posted the biggest quarterly decrease of $105.
However Dunedin's figures were not unexpected because the median rent in the city usually jumps sharply in Q1 each year as students return to the city and sort out their accommodation, much of which is larger properties that can accommodate numerous flatmates, and hence have reasonably high rents. This is usually followed by a big drop in rental activity in Q2.
On an annual basis, Dunedin's median rent was up by $35 a week in Q2.
In general, rent increases were relatively subdued in Auckland, with an overall annual increase of 4.8% in the region, while rents in the top half of the South Island, from Nelson to Selwyn posted double digit percentage increases for the year.
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| Median Weekly Residential Rents | |||||
| All Dwelling Types | |||||
| Q2 2024 | |||||
| City/District | Median Rent | Quarterly Change | Annual Change | ||
| Q2 2024 | $ | % | $ | % | |
| Whangarei | $595 | $15 | 2.6% | $45 | 8.2% |
| Auckland Region | $660 | $10 | 1.5% | $30 | 4.8% |
| Rodney Ward | $650 | -$30 | -4.4% | $50 | 8.3% |
| Albany Ward | $750 | $35 | 4.9% | $50 | 7.1% |
| North Shore Ward | $700 | $0 | 0.0% | $30 | 4.5% |
| Waitakere Ward | $650 | $0 | 0.0% | $20 | 3.2% |
| Waitemata & Gulf Ward | $540 | $20 | 3.8% | $20 | 3.8% |
| Whau Ward | $650 | -$10 | -1.5% | $20 | 3.2% |
| Ailbert-Eden-Roskill Ward | $658 | -$17 | -2.5% | $8 | 1.2% |
| Orakei Ward | $780 | -$20 | -2.5% | $20 | 2.6% |
| Maungakiekie-Tamaki Ward | $650 | -$20 | -3.0% | $20 | 3.2% |
| Howick Ward | $740 | $10 | 1.4% | $40 | 5.7% |
| Manukau Ward | $650 | $15 | 2.4% | $70 | 12.1% |
| Manurewa-Papakura Ward | $690 | $15 | 2.2% | $40 | 6.2% |
| Franklin Ward | $660 | $10 | 1.5% | $30 | 4.8% |
| Hamilton | $550 | $0 | 0.0% | $10 | 1.9% |
| Tauranga | $695 | $0 | 0.0% | $45 | 6.9% |
| Whakatane | $565 | -$8 | -1.4% | $40 | 7.6% |
| Rotorua | $570 | $10 | 1.8% | $20 | 3.6% |
| Taupo | $618 | $68 | 12.4% | $98 | 18.8% |
| Napier | $650 | $30 | 4.8% | $65 | 11.1% |
| Hastings | $600 | $0 | 0.0% | $50 | 9.1% |
| New Plymouth | $600 | $20 | 3.4% | $50 | 9.1% |
| Whanganui | $490 | $0 | 0.0% | $20 | 4.3% |
| Palmerston North | $550 | $30 | 5.8% | $50 | 10.0% |
| Kapiti Coast | $620 | $0 | 0.0% | $40 | 6.9% |
| Porirua | $693 | $23 | 3.4% | $43 | 6.6% |
| Upper Hutt | $640 | $20 | 3.2% | $30 | 4.9% |
| Lower Hutt | $630 | $0 | 0.0% | $10 | 1.6% |
| Wellington City | $600 | -$50 | -7.7% | $10 | 1.7% |
| Masterton | $540 | $20 | 3.8% | $20 | 3.8% |
| Nelson | $550 | $0 | 0.0% | $50 | 10.0% |
| Marlborough | $550 | $0 | 0.0% | $50 | 10.0% |
| Waimakariri | $600 | $20 | 3.4% | $70 | 13.2% |
| Christchurch | $550 | $0 | 0.0% | $50 | 10.0% |
| Selwyn | $650 | $20 | 3.2% | $70 | 12.1% |
| Ashburton | $480 | $30 | 6.7% | $30 | 6.7% |
| Timaru | $450 | $0 | 0.0% | $20 | 4.7% |
| Queenstown-Lakes | $775 | $75 | 10.7% | $47 | 6.5% |
| Dunedin | $495 | -$105 | -17.5% | $35 | 7.6% |
| Invercargill | $450 | -$10 | -2.2% | $20 | 4.7% |
| All of Aotearoa | $600 | $0 | 0.0% | $30 | 5.3% |
| Source: Tenancy Services | |||||
Map of Auckland Council Wards
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38 Comments
Up year on year.
Dropping the last few months.
Where have we seen this before?
Some double-digit increases among them.......
Not easy for renters when the overall cost-of-living is so high....... time the kleptocracy held back a bit.
TTP
It's understandable there is a queue forming at the exit.
Landlords of the leveraged variety have worries too. Before expenses, yields should be on average in the vicinity of 8-10% not only to reflect the risk but compare side by side with less riskier TD's. What is it currently - 5%? Capital gain cannot be guaranteed when the timing of any future disposal is not. If there is clear intent to dispose for gain then isn't it more likely to be covered under the "intent" rule?
You're a renter TTP you have options, like a house on wheels down the beach you didn't pay millions for.
House prices aren't increase but rents are, 5.3% increase in yield is substantial.
Yeah if you can find tenants... Surplus of empty rentals now piling up!
If there's a "surplus of empty rentals" then why are so many prospective tenants finding it so difficult to find something suitable? And why are rents climbing so much?
Perhaps the answers to such obvious questions lies in the reality that there's a chronic shortage of houses in NZ - and that the current slowdown in construction means the shortage might well grow in the future.
TTP
Or it means there's a chronic lack of Disposable Income, and prospective tenants are having to double-up or go back home to M&D.
There is no lack of housing in New Zealand - just an inequitable distribution of ownership. "Encourage" those who have 100 to sell to those who have none ("Sell now, before prices halve"; regulatory change of all kind is always a good starting point for that rebalancing), and the supposed 'lack of housing' myth, goes away.
YRM kindly inform us were this is and make certain it is more than just your neighborhood as we're I have my properties most I could rent out tomorrow if empty and not fussed on quality of tenant. On my newer builds am a bit more picky so take longer to rent. But no shortage of tenants.
Yeah you give em the old dressing down there captain, we only accept your anecdotal evidence!
The temerity of some posters! 🫡
Taupo and Queenstown I understand, but Palmerston north and porirua I just dont.
In masterton its an incompetent council which allowed its wastewater system to get inundated and they slammed the brakes on any new homes being built. Nuts
As a landlord I feel disappointed and aghast that these scummy tenants think it is okay to reject our generous offers of sustainable rent increase. I don't think I will go ahead with the purchase of my student rentals in H2 2024 - silly students are biting the hand that feeds them.
-SMG.
I prefer high IQ tenants - they accept rent increase and appreciate the landlord, which, let's be honest, are the true wheel greasers of the NZ economy.
- SMG.
Sarc?
Question: How does a drop in the OCR; mortgage rates, help those who need a place to rent?
Answer: It doesn't. It NEVER does. Rents only go in one direction - up. And if a property has to sit empty for longer to extract higher rental income, then so be it.
Of course rents only ever go up as they are just the landlord covering all the associated costs of owning it.
Let me fix that for you real quick.
Of course rents only ever go up as they are just the landlord covering all the associated costs of gambling on capital gain’s through buying an investment that otherwise has no real ROI.
So what's the remainder of costs called, after risk, rates, maintenance, PM are factored in, for a property that is owned outright?
Profit = costs? Opportunity cost?
Your answer is wrong. (Can't be bothered explaining why ... yet again.)
A welcome boost to GDP.
Good to see that the tax cuts have been passed on to tenants.
Pass me a Tui.
That was meant to be sarcasm, but on reflection, the fact that rents have not risen in the last quarter could mean that a rise in rents was averted....
Or that there's a glut of rentals on the market and people are dropping their rents to attract new tenants.
A few anecdotes on the NZ Property Facebook group over the last couple of weeks, of investors struggling to find tenants and their asking rent has been appraised at the lower end.
"That was meant to be sarcasm, but on reflection, the fact that rents have not risen in the last quarter could mean that a rise in rents was averted...."
What tenants will pay relates primarily to what tenants earn. (Studies have shown this to be true.)
With the economy crumbling, and wage increases drying up, and wage earning terrified of risking their current job by even suggesting a pay increase ... Are you suggesting a recession, with job losses and fear, is good for tenants?
Odd way to look at it.
Might be a $20/week tax cut but a $500/year rates increase, the public service will get you one way or another.
Those figures ain’t good for the CPI
I thought it would have been lower in Auckland. I guess that just supports my growing ‘supply skepticism’
Actually lots of new builds hitting the rental market could be distorting averages higher. All things being equal a new 2 beddie will rent for more than an older one
Even though more people are leaving than coming, the rent price keep increasing, sweet..
1K per week for 3 beddies in North Shore is just a matter of time
Maybe within 20 years?
That's one interpretation of 'a matter of time'.
If I wanted to be 100% right I'd say 30 years.
In any event $1,000 per week is only half the equation. The other half what it costs to provide it.
(I'm having a whimsical moment. I usually ignore such drivel.)
More like 10 years. A decent 3 beddie down here is already over $700 a week.
We should revisit that 'reckons' in ten years.
Inflation alone at 3% per annum would get us to $940 / week in 10 years.
But an increase in housing supply and fewer renters may well temper that (and I hope it does!)
(I did the maths before suggesting 20 years. ;-) ... Some places in good locations will easily exceed 3% per annum but with so many dwellings in crappy places being available, they'll pull the averages down big time.
That's why you buy a house, by the time you get near the end of your mortgage the rent has far exceeded your mortgage payments. Ask yourself what North Shore people paid for a 3 bedie 25 years ago.
"Past performance is no guarantee of future results."
Spruik away, Boomer. Things have changed.
Old proverb the more things change the more they stay the same
The only reason to put up rents at the moment is to keep up with the astronomical increases in rates and insurance which are beyond our control.
Absolutely, prospective tenants are still bidding on rents to secure the property, a very awkward and challenging situation to manage.
Rents starting to decline in major cities, as expected as people leave the country and new housing comes online. In inflation adjusted terms fairly big drops.
Regions will probably follow, just like house prices typically do.
Wonderful news for the poor of NZ who have to rent.
NZ already has some of the highest rent/income ratios in the OECD.
NZ has gone to the dogs.
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