Rents in Auckland up by $13 a week compared to a year ago, while rents in Queenstown are down $114 a week

By Greg Ninness

The median rent for newly tenanted residential properties throughout the country increased by $12 a week over the last year, according to the latest bond data from Tenancy Services.

The median rent for all bonds received by Tenancy Services over the three months from August to October was $459 a week, up $12 from the same period of last year, giving an annual increase of 2.8%.

However there were some significant regional variations, with five districts having double digit percentage increases - Palmerston North, Kapiti Coast, Upper Hutt, Dunedin and Invercargill.

Only one district showed a decline in rent over that period but it was a substantial one.

The median rent in Queenstown-Lakes declined by $114 a week, from $614 over the three months to October last year to $500 in the same period of this year. That's down 18.6% compared to a year earlier.

There was also only one area where the median rent was unchanged from a year earlier, - Auckland Central which includes the city's CBD and leafy inner suburbs, where the median was unchanged on $530 a week, most likely reflecting weakness in the apartment market.

Rental growth in the main centres was weakest in the Auckland Region at 2.5%, compared to 5.2% in the Wellington Region, 3.6% in Christchurch and 10.5% in Dunedin.

Of the main urban areas, the most expensive rent was in Auckland's North Shore at $595 a week, while the cheapest was in Invercargill at $322 (see the table below for the changes in all main urban areas).

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