in February, the national median rent climbing by $45 to a record-breaking $575 per week, as rents in a number of regions hiked at historically high rates. “In the past 12 months we’ve seen rents rise consistently and every month it gets more expensive to rent a property in New Zealand. Add to that the rising cost of food and fuel, and tenants are having to dig deep into their wallets to pay for everyday necessities,” Gavin Lloyd, sales director at Trade Me, said.
In Taranaki, the coastal and mountainous region on the west side of the North Island, rents jumped by 22 per cent year-on-year to $550, while in the Northland, it was up by 9 per cent to $545.
Meanwhile, in the Bay of Plenty rents reached $585, following an annual increase of 6.4 per cent. In addition to record prices, tenants are also struggling with a decline in rentals available on the market to choose from. In February, the number of rentals nationwide dropped by 6 per cent from the same month last year. This was a result of a 39 per cent year-on-year fall in rental supply in Nelson/Tasman, followed by Canterbury, with a 32 per cent drop, and Taranaki down 29 per cent.
Auckland was the only region beating the odds with a 4 per cent increase in the number of rental properties available on the market, although demand for rentals was also down by 4 per cent compared with the same month last year. The Wellington region registered a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in the median weekly rent which reached $650, while the number of rental properties on the market remained unchanged.
