Auckland's North Shore has NZ's most expensive rents with an average $642 a week, Invercargill the cheapest at $373

By Greg Ninness

The average residential rent for newly tenanted properties throughout New Zealand increased by $43 a week last year.

That puts the average rent for properties newly tenanted in the fourth quarter of 2021 at $527 a week, up 9.0% from $483 in the fourth quarter of 2020. (The dollar change figures may not exactly match the difference between the quarterly rent figures quoted due to the rounding of cents in the numbers. The difference should be no more than $1).

The biggest increase in average rent last year in both dollar and percentage terms was in Queenstown-Lakes District, where it increased by $122 a week (24.3%).

Dunedin was the only place to record an annual decrease in average rent last year, dropping $3 a week (-0.8%) from $435 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $432 in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Auckland's North Shore retains its position as the most expensive place to rent a home with an average rent of $642 a week, up by $33 a week (5.5%).

Invercargill remains the least expensive place to rent at with an average of $373, up by $33 a week (9.8%).

The table below shows average rents in the fourth quarter of last year for all 31 cities and districts measured by interest.co.nz and shows how much they have changed over the previous 12 months.

Although rent increases have generally been high, with 19 of the 31 districts recording double digit percentage increases last year, most of the growth occurred at the end of the year, after an extended period of little or no rent growth for most places.

The summer months are usually the busiest time of year for the rental market and there may also have been a build up of pressure for some upward movement in rents as Covid-related restrictions eased late last year.

However even if the the rate at which rents increased late last year does not continue into the first quarter of this year, the size of the increases that have occurred so far and the fact they are coming on top of higher prices generally, will be contributing to the rising pressure on many household budgets.

This story was originally published on Interest.co.nz and has been republished here with permission.