Asking rents for homes advertised on Trade Me Property dipped slightly last month compared with January but remained well up on a year earlier.
The national median advertised rent was $410 a week in February compared with $420 in January, but still 6.5% ahead of February last year.
The decline in the national median advertised rent appears to have mainly been driven by falls in Auckland and Wellington, with advertised rents in Christchurch remaining flat overall.
In Auckland the median rent dropped from $480 in January to $475 in February with median apartment rents declining by $10 a week to $420, townhouses declining by $18 a week to $520 and home units declining by $5 a week to $380.
However the advertised rents on small 1-2 bedroom homes was flat at $390 a week while rents for three bedroom houses rose by $10 a week to $540.
In Wellington, the median advertised rent for all property types dropped by $20 a week to $420 compared with January, with rents on apartments declining by $20 a week to $430, townhouses were down $5 a week to $445 and home units were down $10 a week to $300.
Small 1-2 bedroom homes in Wellington were unchanged at $340 a week and three bedroom homes dropped by $20 a week to $480.
In Christchurch the median advertised rent for all property types was unchanged at $450 a week compared with January, with rents on apartments declining by $18 a week to $360, while townhouses were up $10 a week to $460 and home units were down $5 a week to $335.
Rents for small 1-2 bedroom stand alone house were up $10 a week to $375 and on three bedroom houses they were up $5 a week to $495.
The annual rate of growth in advertised rents also slowed in February.
In January the national median advertised rent was up 9% compared to a year earlier but in February that had dropped back to 6.5%.
In Auckland the annual growth in rent dropped back from 6.7% in January to 5.6% in February, in the Bay of Plenty it was unchanged at 7.9%, in Wellington it dropped from 6% in January to 5% in February, in Canterbury it was down from 8.4% to 7.1% and in Otago it dropped from 3.3% to zero.
Trade me head of property Nigel Jeffries said demand from tenants remained strong but there had been a fall in the number of new properties being advertised for rent.
To read Trade Me Property's full report on February's rentals click on this link.
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