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Housing rents up strongly in Wellington, flat in Auckland and declining in Christchurch

Property
Housing rents up strongly in Wellington, flat in Auckland and declining in Christchurch

Housing rents are rising strongly in Wellington and most provincial centres, are almost flat in Auckland and declining in Christchurch, according to Trade Me Property.

The median asking rent for Auckland properties advertised on the website was $530 a week in May, up just 1.9% compared to May last year, while in Wellington it was $450 a week, up 9.8% compared to a year earlier 

In Christchurch it was $390, down 2.5% compared to May last year.

Around the rest of the country, the median asking rent for properties advertised on the website were up by between 3.1%, in Otago and Southland, to 12.5% in the Bay of Plenty, compared to a year ago. (see map below for all regional movements).

Trade Me's Head of Property Nigel Jeffries said the 2.5% fall in median rents in Christchurch was equivalent to a saving of $500 a year for tenants in the city.

"The median weekly rent [in Christchurch] is now the same as it was in 2013, so tenants in the city will be a lot happier than they were during the height of the rebuild," he said.

"For two years rents rocketed up, hitting the city's record of $495 a week in March 2015.

"Since then rents have declined relentlessly.

 They've fallen year on year for the past two years.

"This means that in Christchurch, rents have risen just over 8% in the last five years, while nationwide the rise was 25%."

In Wellington the reverse was true, with rents for all types of properties up 9.8% compared to a year ago, while rents for 3-4 bedroom houses were up 14.1%.

Apartments in the capital showed a more modest rise of 6.5% for the year.

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46 Comments

That jump in BOP is eye-watering.

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Bay of plenty rents have been sky rocketing for two to three years now.

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They are building a lot of houses in the BoP.

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True.massive developments in papamoa. Hopefully it won't be oversuplied like Christchurch

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Hopefully it will

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Do you think housing scarcity is a good thing?

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Chch is the only city winning at the property game. The rest of the country is just becoming more impoverished

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Yes as it keeps rents rising

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That is a bad thing, in case you hadn't noticed.

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Nope, demand keeps rents rising.

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Prices in Tga are still far beyond what they should be considering the wages being paid here. Houses are still very unaffordable for people. More houses are needed. But if that leads to a reduction in prices will remain to be seen. You could always pay 600k for a shoe box... http://www.trademe.co.nz/1328809930

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Agreed. I don't know where all the people are to buy $700K plus homes here. And with the amount of building going on at The Lakes also there must be some vendors getting worried. I've been to a few auctions lately and usually out of 12 to 20 houses there will only be a couple actually sell in the auction room. Some selling after but people are having to readjust their price expectations and I also notice a rise in rental availability. 344 houses to rent in Tauranga right now which is higher than it's been in quite some time.

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Hamilton remiaining fairy stable on trademe. 645 for sale, 446 for rent (yet we still pay moteliers $1k plus per week to house the homeless). Rentals have dropped, listings up a little.

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yes it's a problem for a lot of landlords who now realise their tenants are paying $50 per week less than the median rent because they, the landlord, havent raised the rent in 2 years. Its going to take a big toll on accommodation supplement liabilities when the inevitable rent rise happens. The Taruanga property market is backed by the wealthiest generation who ever walked the planet "the baby boomes". Different segments of the tauranga market will perform differently. As with all property location location location. (disclaimer - just my humble opinion and I own property in Taruanga)

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Further proof that the Auckland house price increases are largely speculative. If it was totally immigration driven then rentals would have gone up further. In fact it appears rentals reached a maximum affordable level and then flattened out - I suspect by people living closer together (kids not leaving home, students sharing flats) which will change as prices decline in real terms.

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Wonder how Darth Vader (THEMAN2) and his gang of darklords are going in Chch with decreased rents and increased interest payments?

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Probably joined the long queue of investors looking to bail on substandard properties, the Christchurch for sale market is piling up with unsold stock. But who wants to buy B-grade houses in a falling market? No-one. In the stampede for the door, some will get crushed.

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the increases in chch a few years back were substantial so it is not surprising to see them come back. I'm a landlord in chch but my view is that I would rather see affordable rents. in the long run it is better for everyone. For those that are renting, if they have a few more dollars to spend or save, why would I begrudge them that?

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Seriously, what is it that Christchurch does that can't be done elsewhere? Anyone who left isn't going back once they've put down roots. Unless there's a reason, like a job, and those must be getting thinner on the ground as time drags on. So why go/stay there?
What should have happened, of course, is that the Seat of Power - Government, should have moved in after the rebuilding was announced; away from the inevitable earthquake that will hit Wellington. But I guess that would have all bee too hard ( Think, Bonn after the capital was relocated to Berlin)

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As with a lot of cities, there are plenty of jobs that can be done elsewhere. I guess people in chch like to live there for their own personal reasons which perhaps are different to yours bw. Chch has a lot of space which allows for cheaper manufacturing and also is the hub for some of the countries best agriculture and tourism destinations. These are the backbones for the economy, not to dissimilar to nz as a whole really. And good luck replicating Canterbury rugby success elsewhere...

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Maybe people don't care about rugby success as a reason to live somewhere.
Why else would people live in Northland,BOP,Poverty Bay and Southland to name just a few.
More to life than an oval ball.

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Completely agree. The point I made was that everyone has their own personal reasons. An example i gave is the oval ball.

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Blasphemy! Kill the heretic!

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What a strange comment. Why live anywhere, everything can be replicated elsewhere. I moved here for a job and stayed for the easy outdoors lifestyle, life is good.

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Its actually a heavy engineering base - a function of both the availability of land for factories, and the proximity of the Canterbury Engineering school and research centre.

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Wouldn't discount the distinct possibility that many Christchurch residents are leaving, getting out, having waited long enough for the promises made to come to fruition - have finally given up the ghost - not willing to put their lives on hold any longer and put up with the dismal performance of government based EQC

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Do we have any hard figures on how many have left Christchurch since the quakes?

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Funny, no mention of Northland +18.8%

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Northland/ BOP figures may be distorted. Will have had Auckland investors purchasing above average housing stock in these areas, as viewed as cheap relative to Auckland. So houses that would typically be owner occupier homes, will be getting let, eg modern brick and tiles in Tauranga. So some of the rise will be due to the average rental property now being of a higher standard, hence average rent is higher. I would estimate the true annual increase in rent figure to be about half the headline number.

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I gave up a good Auckland job to move to Chch. Much better lifestyle after housing costs. I know several other couples with young children who have done the same.

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Sshhh if you want our lifestyle to last you can't be telling the whole internet about it. Just back from a great MTB ride on the hills outside my back door. Meanwhile my daughter walked from school to her piano lesson and then home. Hard to get all that in AKL. I know, I tried. OK I admit the sailing was a bit better :-)

CHRISTCHURCH IS DOOMED IT'S ALL BROKEN AND WILL NEVER RECOVER DON'T MOVE HERE YOU'D HATE IT

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Plus house prices are falling. That will stop if all those 72,000 immigrants suddenly hear that Christchurch is better than Auckland and make a beeline for the city. Then I wont be able to get my Fendalton 3-bedder for $500k in a years time :-) So STFU!

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Awww $530 a week in May in Auckland? That doesn't sound right coz I charge my tenants $600 for a 2-bed unit in the Bays...

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Madam. You are an arse!

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Your language is charming blue meanie

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And you yourself are all class DGZ.

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Sweet

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Auckland is a big region which builds mostly in the low rent areas far far away from the city.

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Cost effective enough when you're cooking meth.

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So Auckland apparently has the most acute housing shortage yet rents have increased less than virtually anywhere else. More baffling data from a bizarre housing market. No wonder it's so difficult for the various stake holders to achieve any kind of consensus.

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The data suggests a speculation surplus rather than a housing shortage.

My fantasy outcome has the greatest fools getting their funds from overseas...

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When you look at ROI specuvesting is the most ridiculously risky crappy investment out there. The sheeple and the joneses just cant help themselves. 500 on black.

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Rents are bound by actual incomes much more than house prices are. No bank is going to lend you thousands and thousands of dollars just to pay the rent.

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People are leaving Auckland fast.

Our external migration figures are based on up to date data from immigration department, but our internal migration figures are mostly based on the census. The next census is in 2018 and so we are 4 years out of whack on good internal migration data.

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Rent declines in Chch are because houses have been rebuilt or repaired , so many folk have left , and the Chinese immigrants dont want to live there

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Do increases (assuming no natural disasters) indicate where job growth is occurring?

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