Media Release
21 December 2016
Little Christmas cheer for tenants
Kiwi tenants have less to cheer about this Christmas with New Zealand’s median weekly rent increasing for the first time
in four months, and hitting a record high $445 in November, according to the latest Trade Me Property Rental Index.
Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said the median weekly rent was up 3.5 percent on this time last year. “It’s
been a subdued year for the rental market, but this jump in November looks like the first of the typical summer
increases.
“Rents almost always increase in January as rental stock hits the market and landlords seize the chance to reassess the
value of their rental property. We’re seeing some decent median weekly rent jumps already, particularly in Auckland and
Wellington, and we suspect more increases are imminent.”
Over the past five years New Zealand’s median advertised rent has risen 27.1 per cent from $350 per week to $445 per
week, adding close to $5,000 to the annual cost of renting a typical property.
Mr Jeffries said the Auckland market is a significant contributor to the month-on-month increase, having increased by
$10 to $520 a week. “That’s the second consecutive $10 jump in Auckland after months of stagnation, so the market is
coming to life and landlords are finally feeling like they can pass more costs on.
“The Super City’s median weekly rent hasn’t been this high since April this year, and while it’s fluctuated throughout
the year the last three months have been strong – there are signs there that a record high is not far away.”
Wellington keeps edging up
Mr Jeffries said that Wellington has seen a very strong end to the year. “Rents in Wellington have risen by 9.5 per cent
in the past year, adding nearly $2,000 to the annual cost of renting a property and taking the median rent in November
to $433 a week.
“This year has been a challenging one for tenants in the capital as rents have been rising year-on-year for most of the
year. That increase has accelerated from two or three per cent early in 2016 to closer to 10 per cent in the past five
months.
“Wellington’s rent prices are very cyclical – they build in October each year, and peak in January before a mid-year
plateau. October and November have already been extremely strong so we’re expecting to see a pretty strong peak come
January.”
Around the regions
The Bay of Plenty continues to be the standout region from a landlord’s perspective, with another double-digit increase
in median weekly rent on this time last year. The Bay is up 10.5 per cent on last year, going from a median weekly rent
of $380 to $420. Over the past 2 years rents in the Bay of Plenty have risen a “staggering” 27 per cent.
Elsewhere around the country, rents increased everywhere except Gisborne (down 14.3 per cent) and Canterbury (down 4.2
per cent).
All house sizes soaring in the Capital
While all property types across New Zealand saw strong median weekly rent increases in November (up 3.5 per cent) Mr
Jeffries said that Wellington stuck out. “All property types in Wellington are soaring and it could be a tough market in
the New Year.
“Tenants in the Capital are going to be forking out a lot more on their rent now – particularly for large houses (5+
bedrooms) and the most popular housing option, medium houses (3-4 bedrooms) which jumped an incredible 11.9 and 11.1 per
cent respectively.
Meanwhile Auckland saw strong rises across all property types and all Christchurch houses fell except large houses which
saw a modest increase (2.5 per cent).
Table 1: Median weekly rent by property size & region: November 2016 vs November 2015All propertiesLarge houses
5+ bedroomsMedium houses
3-4 bedroomSmall houses
1-2 bedroomNew Zealand$445
+ 3.5%$700
+ 2.2%$490
+ 4.3%$350
+ 2.9%New Zealand
excluding Auckland$380
+ 2.7%$580
+ 5.5%$420
+ 5.0%$310
+ 3.3%Auckland$520
+ 4.0%$800
+ 5.3%$560
+ 1.8%$430
+ 4.9%Wellington$433
+ 9.5%$730
+ 11.9%$500
+ 11.1%$350
+ 10.2%Christchurch$395
- 6.0%$700
+ 2.5%$449
- 0.2%$345
- 1.4%
Urban living options still offer more affordability
Tenants looking for a better deal on their rent may be best to look at urban property options with apartments and units
rising slightly over the last month while townhouses were down.
“Units are seeing some fluctuations in regions around the country, they’re up five per cent in Auckland and more than
six per cent in Wellington year-on-year. Other areas are also seeing strong jumps for units with Waikato up more than 10
per cent and Northland up almost 17 per cent.”
Table 2: Median weekly rent by property type & region: November 2016 vs November 2015All urban propertiesApartmentsTownhouseUnitsNew Zealand$400
+ 2.6%$430
+ 2.4%$460
- 1.1%$350
+ 1.4%New Zealand
excluding Auckland$330
No change$354
+ 1.3%$395
- 1.3%$290
+ 3.6%Auckland$450
+ 2.3%$465
+ 3.3%$590
+ 7.3%$420
+ 5.0%Wellington$390
+ 8.3%$430
+ 4.9%$450
+ 7.1%$330
+ 6.5%Christchurch$350
- 5.4%$350
No change$400
- 5.9%$315
- 4.5%
-ends-
NOTES
About the Trade Me Property Rental Price Index: This report provides a comprehensive monthly insight into the rental market covering price trends by type and size of
property across New Zealand. The index is produced from Trade Me Property data of properties that have been rented in
the month by property managers and private landlords. On average over 11,000 properties are rented each month and the
report provides a comprehensive insight into this part of the property market for tenants, landlords and investors. The
index is calculated using the median rent in the month, this being an accurate statistical assessment of the current rent being charged by landlords and property
managers.
More info: For information about the differences between the Trade Me Property data and bond data collected by Tenancy Services,
please read this post by Dr Lucy Telfar-Barnard from the University of Otago: http://onetwothreehome.org.nz/2015/05/11/how-high-is-the-rent/