Average rent on newly tenanted homes increased by $25 a week in the year to April
By Greg Ninness
The residential rental market appears to be holding steady, with the number of properties rented in April following its usual seasonal course while rents held on to the gains made at the start of the year.
The latest rental data from Tenancy Services shows it received 11,157 tenancy bonds in April, down slightly from the 11,802 it received in April last year.
Bonds are usually lodged at the start of a tenancy and their numbers tend to peak over summer and then decline over the winter months.
April's figures suggest the rental market is continuing to follow that trend this year and the bond graph below shows the monthly trend since the beginning of 2021.
Rents also appear to be stabilising after a period of growth, with the national average rent climbing back to its record $575 a week in April.
That's up by $25 a week (+4.5%) compared to April last year, with the average rent first hitting $575 in January and then dropping back to $560 in February and March before climbing back up to $575 in April - the rent graph below shows the trend since January 2021.
The rent figures derived from recently lodged bonds will reflect the rents being charged for new tenancies, which will tend to set the benchmark for other landlords when they review the rents of their existing tenants.
It's not uncommon for rent figures to bounce around a bit from month to month but the trends shown in the graphs below suggest a measure of normality has returned to the rental market after the disruptions caused by the pandemic lockdowns, albeit with slightly higher rents.
If the market continues to follow the usual seasonal trends then it would be likely that the average rent would soften slightly around the middle of the year and possibly pick up a bit in spring along with rental activity, depending on the balance of the underlying fundamentals of supply and demand.
A more detailed quaterly analysis of rental activity is available in interest.co.nz's Residential Rent Report.
This story was originally published on Interest.co.nz and has been republished here with permission.
