Big regional differences in median rent movements last year, with rents in New Plymouth and Napier up $60 a week, rents in Whakatane down $28, Auckland rents unchanged

By Greg Ninness, Interest.co.nz

The national median rent on newly tenanted homes increased by $25 a week last year, although rents in Auckland went against the trend and were unchanged.

The latest bond data from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment shows bonds were received for 35,115 residential properties across the entire country in the fourth quarter of last year, most of which would have been for new tenancies.

The median rent for those tenancies was $550 a week, up by $25 a week (4.5%) compared to the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021.

Interest.co.nz collates the data by all main urban districts and by the main rental property types - one and two bedroom apartments/units and three bedroom houses.

The first table below shows the median rent for each of those dwelling types from Q1 2021 to Q4 2022.

Over the 12 months from Q4 2021 to Q4 2022, the biggest increase by property type nationally was for three bedroom houses, up by $30 a week to $600, followed by one bedroom apartments/units up by $15 a week to $415 and two bedroom apartment/units up by $10 a week to $530.

Interest.co.nz considers the data collected from tenancy bonds to be the most important indicator of rental movements because it is based on the actual rents agreed between tenants and landlords rather than advertised rents, which may or may not be achieved, and because new tenancies generally set the rent benchmarks for existing tenancies when their rents come up for review.

While the national median rent was up by $25 a week last year, there were some big regional differences.

The heftiest increase was a tie between Napier and New Plymouth which both posted increases of $60 a week, followed by Wellington City $55, Whanganui $50 and Queenstown-Lakes also $50.

In the wider Wellington region rent increases were more subdued outside of the central city, with median rents in Kapiti, Porirua, and the Hutt Valley rising by between $10 and $15 a week.

The second table below shows the annual movement in rent in most major urban centres.

The median rent of $595 a week in the Auckland region is notable because it is unchanged from Q4 2021, however there were significant differences in rental trends within the districts that make up the Auckland region, with some of the most expensive parts of the city posting declining or static median rents in Q4 2022 compared to a year earlier.

Interest.co.nz compiles the Auckland district figures by council ward areas, and the North Shore Ward, Waitemata and Gulf Ward and Maungakiekie-Tamaki wards all posted declines in their median rents for Q4 2022, compared to a year earlier, while median rents in the Albert-Eden-Roskill and Manukau wards were unchanged in that period.

The final table below shows the median rent figures for all Auckland Council wards and a map showing the ward locations.

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