The supply of rental housing just hit a record for September while asking rents appear weak overall

Property / news

The rental market appears particularly weak in Auckland with rental listings on Trade Me up 51% compared to last year, Wellington not far behind

20th Oct 22, 10:06am by Greg Ninness

Tenants will be celebrating but landlords won't be so happy with the latest rental housing figures from Trade Me Property, which show rents were declining or static over winter while the number of properties being advertised for rent has just hit a record high.

The number of properties listed for rent on Trade Me last month was the highest ever for the month of September and up 31% compared to September last year.

The volume of rental listings last month was also up 7% compared to pre-pandemic levels in September 2019.

The biggest increase was in Auckland where rental listings were up 51% compared to September last year, followed by Wellington with a 49% increase.

Going against the trend, listings were down compared to September last year in Canterbury -2%, Southland -4%, Nelson/Tasman -9% and Otago -9%.

However while the supply of rental properties is growing overall, rents are mostly flat or falling.

The national median asking rent for properties advertised on Trade Me was $575 a week in September, down $5 a week compared to August, and $10 a week below the record of $580 set in April.

However the national median rent was still up 7.5% compared to September last year, although there are significant regional variations.

In Auckland, the country's largest rental market by far, the median asking rent has been unchanged at $600 a week for the the six months to September and is up just 0.8% compared to September last year. Median asking rents were unchanged compared to a year ago in Wellington and Hawke's Bay.

For all areas outside of Auckland the median asking rent was up 10% compared to September last year, with the biggest annual increases occurring in Southland 13.5%, Otago 10%, Canterbury 8.7%, Manawatu/Whanganui 8.7% and Taranaki 8% (see chart below for the full regional figures).

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92 Comments

by tomjones_04 | 20th Oct 22, 10:13am 1666213983

“The rental market seems weak”… from who’s perspective? I’d say it’s strong.. for renters

by Tee | 20th Oct 22, 10:29am 1666214981

Yes, annual inflation on rental was 4.6%.

by HW2 | 20th Oct 22, 5:13pm 1666239204

The number of rentals has actually dropped a lot. A week ago was below 5k in Auckland and has popped to just over.

...But you never know, new builds will flood in to the rental pool in droves. With thousands of extra rentals and falling demand as everyone exits the city (though housemouse loves the city and its hinterland), rents could conceivably go through the floor. Not likely but its possible

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 5:28pm 1666240088

Certainly is a great hinterland HW2. Don’t you think? Hauraki Gulf and islands, West Coast Beaches, Hibiscus Coast.

by HW2 | 20th Oct 22, 6:50pm 1666245056

That's true its very nice... in some parts. Other parts are a heaving mass that seizes up. I am there every week spending money and helping the economy remain viable. Hopefully you get your wet dreams of low rents, low house prices and high wages.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 7:34pm 1666247656

Bit crude isn’t that? Back on the booze again?

I can understand the need to get to Auckland regularly given Hamilton is such a hell hole.

by HW2 | 21st Oct 22, 6:05am 1666285548

by HW2 | 21st Oct 22, 6:06am 1666285573

You've heard the saying those who live in a terrace house should not throw stones. So if I were you I wouldn't start talking about hell holes

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 10:16am 1666214169

This is a good news story.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 10:35am 1666215358

Agree. Very good news!

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 10:20am 1666214428

It's not surprising. Auckland is an increasingly undesirable place to live and many parts now feel like a different country.

Those that don't need to work there are getting out.

by nightstalker | 20th Oct 22, 10:48am 1666216085

Quite a biased statement.

If you have children and want them to get good education and have a go & develop a variety of skills there is no better place like Auckland.

We pondered building up North but schooling and the huge choice of after school activities & the large community made us stay.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 11:23am 1666218182

Yes there’s a lot of good things about Auckland. I would include in that public schooling which In my view is generally better than Aus

by Chairman Moa | 20th Oct 22, 11:28am 1666218497

On a higher level, our universities are ranked pretty low when comparing to the ones in Aust !

by Spiceeh | 20th Oct 22, 2:39pm 1666229971

Ranking is generally not reflective of the quality of the education these days, no matter how much they like to tell you it is. There are renowned experts who have studied and worked in the highest ranked universities in the US that say they found them no better and often worse than so called lesser institutions. They say that most professors teach via wrote ideology, not using a broad knowledge base. They churn out people with tunnel vision, minimal initiate and a deep entitlement mentality.

Goes to explain why so many of our elite classes are so disconnected from reality and unable to change course.

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 11:43am 1666219384

I have not seen any evidence to suggest that the public school system in New Zealand is churning out students with notably better:

Reading and language proficiency
Mathematics and numeracy proficiency
Scientific knowledge and understanding

I would also argue that New Zealand now has an emphasis on teaching literacy in Manglish instead of English.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 11:43am 1666219394

I can only go by my own personal experience. Our son went to the so called best public high school in Adelaide for two years, very underwhelming. Catholic high schools were more than 20k per year. Our daughter goes to Baradene, 5k per year, really excellent school.

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 12:01pm 1666220488

Would it be a fair to suggest that Baradene College of the Sacred Heart is actually not reflective of the general public education system in New Zealand?

by Chairman Moa | 20th Oct 22, 12:27pm 1666222074

My son went to Auckland Boys Grammar for about 18 months before we moved to Aust. Hugely over-rated school, only the ones that will do well there are those at the top and bottom ends.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 12:31pm 1666222263

How was the Aus school?

by Chairman Moa | 20th Oct 22, 1:12pm 1666224721

Initially went to catholic school in Brisbane and did really well there with sport and music. Then got into Queensland Academies for Science Math and Tech (public school). He's now studying Med at UNSW (got accepted into Otago and Auckland med school but decided to go to Sydney instead)

Can't praise enough about the schooling system here. Had he stayed in AGS he'd be just another average kid!

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 1:20pm 1666225211

I guess education is a very personal experience and heavily reliant on the needs of the child.

by Pa1nter | 20th Oct 22, 4:16pm 1666235790

I actually think there's a fundamental issue in parents' outsourcing the raising of their kids to a school.

They're ok for churning out wage earners though.

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 4:32pm 1666236762

I have a couple of friends who teach in posh private schools in Auckland. Said that, sadly, some of the kids really suffer from a lack of parental involvement. They have very much outsourced the raising of their kids. It is to the detriment of their kids' educational achievement, even if the parents are earning a lot of money and have their kids in a big, beautiful house.

I.e. not just the domain of those struggling for money, but all across the spectrum.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 3:37pm 1666233444

Out of interest how much were the Catholic school fees per annum? They generally seem much higher in Aus

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 12:30pm 1666222224

Yes.

But my point still stands - 5k per annum compared to 20k in Aus.

Also, from what I have heard from friends, the better public schools in Auckland sound better than the better public schools in Aus cities. Certainly better than the so called best public school my son attended in Adelaide.

Brock, I hope you find happiness in Queensland. I am sure that you will also find that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 12:49pm 1666223392

Thanks. See how it goes for a few years and then assess what comes next.

by K.W. | 20th Oct 22, 5:59pm 1666241967

Thats because 40% of parents send their kids to private or independent schools in Australia. Once they get rid of streaming in NZ, the performance of NZ public schools will drop even further.

by General Comment | 20th Oct 22, 3:08pm 1666231702

I guess it's horses for courses.

I have two children. Both attend/attended a private or state-integrated school waaaay out here in the boondocks of Hawkes Bay. My son would have had his operatic debut at 14 years old if not for the Covid fiasco, and last week he was at a workshop in Christchurch for a national band. He's maintaining an "excellence" level for NCEA.

They both play multiple instruments, compose and arrange music, speak several languages, have interests in engineering, veterinary science, woodwork and so on, and play Winter and Summer sports. After school they enjoy sunshine and fresh air on a property the size of a large Auckland subdivision, with however many friends are able to come around. Both of them can drive a tractor, and this Summer I might let them drive the digger too. We have an old car in which they can practice driving around the property. Both are able to back a trailer.

I'm struggling to see what more Auckland could offer them, although they enjoyed visiting Remuera, Parnell and Devonport.

Disclaimer: I spent years living in Auckland, as a child and as a young adult. My education suffered while I was there.

by Baywatch | 20th Oct 22, 3:13pm 1666232020

Fantastic place Auckland..

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 3:36pm 1666233380

I generally like it. It’s got a nice climate and a great hinterland. It’s got a reasonable amount of culture ( I highly recommend the Kahlo exhibition). It’s got a very good food culture.

downsides include very high cost of living and bad transport ( public transport and roads)

by Chairman Moa | 20th Oct 22, 3:52pm 1666234372

Currently in Auckland, favourite night time activity for everyone, especially the active healthy young ones is ram-raid..

"family that ram-raids together, stays together.."

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 5:22pm 1666239768

No crime in Brizzie?

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 5:33pm 1666240411

They're being sent back here after Aussie raised them to be crims.

by Chairman Moa | 20th Oct 22, 5:49pm 1666241389

bingo!

by rastus1 | 20th Oct 22, 10:24am 1666214697

National all set for blast off with more immigration and removal of the new tax.

Mr Luxon has to protect his portfolio.

by Zack Brando | 20th Oct 22, 11:17am 1666217867

Is that you TA.. AC ?? Stop shilling the housing market..

..we all know historically house prices boom under Labour.

by K.W. | 20th Oct 22, 6:04pm 1666242295

I think it will be difficult to have more immigration than under the current Labour Govt, who has just approved 200,000 permanent residency visas, and have opened up the borders to an unlimited number of new immigrants with no thought to where they will all live or how they will get to work or what happens if they get sick and need a hospital bed. 2500 visas for elderly people being handed out alone. So when one million of them turn up on the doorstep dont go complaining that you cant find a house to rent, and dont go blaming National.

by Rob Reid | 20th Oct 22, 8:58pm 1666252694

This is the age of Shrinkflation. They will integrate and pay $600pw to live in garages, tents and caravans like the rest of us. All problems have solutions.

by RickStrauss | 21st Oct 22, 9:43am 1666298631

Meanwhile, working Kiwis will fund their WFF, emergency benefits, and healthcare for the aged. All to help suppress wages and inflate rents.

by kiwiana02 | 21st Oct 22, 1:20pm 1666311614

K.W. I understand those 200,000 permanent residency visas are going to people who already live here so unlikely to have much impact on housing or jobs.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 10:35am 1666215326

Up 51%, wow.

And just wait till thousands of townhouses are completed and are available for rent before Xmas.

by Calvin Coolidge | 20th Oct 22, 11:34am 1666218897

Block of five new townhouses sat for sale for months on Milton Street in Christchurch. Prices ranged from high 500s to high 700s. For sale signs gone. They are all still empty and now there is a for rent sign on the fence.

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 11:37am 1666219032

Maybe somebody purchased them to rent out?

by Calvin Coolidge | 20th Oct 22, 11:48am 1666219697

Losing money on the $500 a week rent asking price unless you had $$$$$$ sitting in the bank to buy outright.

by kpnuts | 20th Oct 22, 10:41am 1666215687

excellent news --- As well as the new build -- many of those properties that have sat empty for the last few years making $2000 a week + in capital gains are also landing back on teh market as the gains evaporate and the cost increase!

Now as long as we don't open th immigration floodgates again .....

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 10:46am 1666215976

They will...both Natbour parties...but the issue might be that migration isn't necessarily inward to a rip-off location when economic hard times are hitting. Ireland found that too. There might be more attractive locations to skilled folk from developing countries, than a place with stratospheric housing costs and exploitative labour conditions.

by kpnuts | 20th Oct 22, 11:21am 1666218073

spot on - -dep of Corrections usually recruit 500-800 staff from overseas each year -- normally South Africa and the UK are the big targets -- Last three years under 50 -- hence our prisons are in 23 hr lock downs and have no in face visits in many locations -- with no sign of any improvement -- essentially we have gone from being one of the top destinations globally alongside Canada for high quality professionals - to basket case in just over 3 years ! buggered comes to mind

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 11:25am 1666218327

It's the culmination of our decades-long policy of handing out free money to land owners while devaluing work. Ultimately makes society untenable for many necessary workers.

by Fitzgerald | 20th Oct 22, 11:02am 1666216967

This is exactly what happened in Ireland during their crash. Houses that had been sitting empty were put into the rental market, because their owners were no longer making big capital gains.

by Prickle | 20th Oct 22, 10:48am 1666216094

So can they all move out of the Rotorua motels now?

by rastus1 | 20th Oct 22, 10:59am 1666216794

The unspoken fact is that they are in these because they have a history of not paying and wrecking properties. So they will still be un-houseable.

by Brock Landers | 20th Oct 22, 11:11am 1666217482

For this reason there will always be a need for the state to provide housing of last resort.

by rastus1 | 20th Oct 22, 1:15pm 1666224942

Some great State housing estates...Kaitoke, Waikeria, Poremoremo and the upmarket Ohura.

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 5:34pm 1666240495

Some of the new taxpayer-subsidised private minimum security ones too, the likes of Summerset and Ryman.

by Zack Brando | 20th Oct 22, 11:13am 1666217582

It's pretty much free accommodation for them and a winning lotto ticket for motel owners.

Many will only leave if pushed, even then it might take 5 police officers and a whip.

Many don't vote and it's a safe bet the ones that do.. vote Labour!

Rotorua has played stupid communist games and now weeps over their prizes.

by Wiseguy | 20th Oct 22, 11:15am 1666217750

A lot of them are overseas investors who end up putting their property on rent while they flee back to overseas thinking they can ride out the crash, then return and pocket the gains, they might have to wait a bit longer this time around.

by kiwiana02 | 21st Oct 22, 1:24pm 1666311899

For several years now lots of overseas buyers have been selling their properties and far fewer have been buying.

by RickStrauss | 21st Oct 22, 3:48pm 1666320496

They've lost a lot of money in recent times, in foreign currency terms.

by Retired-Poppy | 20th Oct 22, 11:46am 1666219614

Landlords have had their day for a multitude of reasons. Tenants are about to have theirs. Its a good time to be a renter on account of choice and therefore increased bargaining power. Those who live beneath their means saving today will be rewarded tomorrow. They will come armed with decent sized deposits to put down on even cheaper houses. In the interim, sitting on such deposits provides financial independence and emotional security. Speculator/Landlords who say they bought in at the right time are now out there Spruiking "you cannot time the market" Recent events is clear enough evidence this advice is both self serving and false.

Its a time to celebrate🥳🎈

by HW2 | 20th Oct 22, 10:36pm 1666258560

https://youtu.be/udkRI514KSI

by lowercase capitalist | 20th Oct 22, 11:37am 1666219058

Seems odd that this would be happening right as the loss of interest deductibility starts to take effect.

Criticism of the policy was that it would disincentivise providing rentals.

by Caughtinthemiddle | 20th Oct 22, 11:52am 1666219978

Lesser of two perceived evils. Hope the decline in property values is "transitory!" and rent or swallow a dead rat now and sell for less than the peak.

Opting to rent shows a stubborn refusal to accept that the party may be over. Those doubling down on the capital gains gamble deserve what they get if the bubble bursts.

by BirdieNZ | 20th Oct 22, 1:37pm 1666226271

Turns out landlord costs don't get passed onto renters, after all.

Rents follow incomes, because land ownership has monopoly properties. Landlords extract as much rent as their tenants can bear, unrelated to landlord costs.

by Fitzgerald | 20th Oct 22, 2:33pm 1666229599

Greedy vampire squids, every one of them.

by Whome | 20th Oct 22, 2:56pm 1666230995

Rents follow incomes

and incomes are .....? so rents before too long will ...?

by lowercase capitalist | 20th Oct 22, 3:16pm 1666232181

Adjusting for inflation, incomes are dropping.

I would assume rents are due to come down in that case?

by General Comment | 20th Oct 22, 3:22pm 1666232571

Adjusting for inflation, quite possibly, yes.

by Jamin | 20th Oct 22, 7:36pm 1666247806

We don’t live in a binary world. Landlords as well renters are made up of a large diverse group.

some landlords will always charge as much as possible. Others after covering costs will choose to under rent their properties. Especially if they have nice tenants.

by HouseMouse | 20th Oct 22, 3:39pm 1666233556

New build rentals are exempt though

by agnostium | 20th Oct 22, 4:39pm 1666237162

It was concern trolling by landlords and property spruikers

by linklater01 | 20th Oct 22, 12:11pm 1666221092

But I thought that there was going to be a mass exodus of investors from the rental market, driven by the 'iniquitous' tax changes of the government?

So appalling were they that the very first policy statement from ( 7 house)Luxon was to assure these hard-pressed investors that they would 'be gone by lunchtime' when he is PM.

by Kiwigirl | 20th Oct 22, 1:42pm 1666226570

Interesting...talked to a couple of RE agents a couple of weeks ago, they said that folks are selling up their homes and going renting and are planning to sit it out until the market calms down and prices are lower. If they can sell, that is.

by Caughtinthemiddle | 20th Oct 22, 2:30pm 1666229451

I call BS on what the REA's have told you. That's a pretend friend they're talking about.

The type of thinking that is required to monetise your way of life by rolling it into a house and land package just reaks of REA logic, not those that value neighbours, friends, and community. This is a REA's teenage fantasy.

by Rob Reid | 20th Oct 22, 9:20pm 1666254041

I have friends in Northland who did that recently.

by rastus1 | 21st Oct 22, 11:41am 1666305669

No one told them about the ‘Open Bank Resolution’ scheme then???

"This essentially forces depositors to bear losses in a bank failure by having some of their money taken to recapitalise the bank and get it open for business again quickly (under statutory management"

One reason why I am reluctant to stay out of the housing market. Can't confiscate the spare room.

by Nzdan | 21st Oct 22, 12:12pm 1666307556

People thinking they're "clever" by trying to short the housing market. The proceeds from their sale were likely from a mortgage on the other side of the ledger. If the OBR event does eventuate, I'm pretty sure the bank could in theory follow the money and apply an "ethics" test case.

E.g. $200k in the bank from regular salary savings vs $200k capital gains from a house sale. If they had to chose, they may go after the $200k CG over the $200k of real savings. Imagine the media beat up if someone lost a portion of their hard earned savings. The beat up would a lot less if someone lost a portion of housing "profits".

by Whome | 20th Oct 22, 2:54pm 1666230856

I guess all the 'landlord haters' think Kianga Ora can/could do a better job providing the 540,000 rental properties that the private sector have invested in to provide housing to tenants.

Yeah just kick those greedy landlords in the guts for investing in roofs over peoples heads. How dare they!

Heck the government provides the luxury of motel accomodation to its most in need so why cant those landlords also offer an equivalent 'luxury' accomodation for the same (free) price?

These days you have to be homeless to be able to 'afford' to live in a motel... oh that's right, they are not staying there for free... our taxes are paying for them.

I guess thats those greedy landlords fault as well for charging such high rents forcing people to be homeless. Heck why can't they just provide roofs over peoples heads at a loss like the government does?

by RickStrauss | 20th Oct 22, 3:48pm 1666234108

It's a bit much to have such victim mentality after having received so much of a leg-up from previous generations who actually funded a supply of affordable housing.

by Nzdan | 20th Oct 22, 5:36pm 1666240602

I mean, it takes a lot of work to put your name on the title of an existing property and take out a mortgage. I would say Kainga Ora would do a better job, because they're not hamstrung by financial resources or the need to turn a profit like our private slumlords.

Whether the property is in private or public hands, doesn't change the number of tradespeople available to maintain the property.

by Pa1nter | 20th Oct 22, 8:43pm 1666251839

I would say Kainga Ora would do a better job, because they're not hamstrung by financial resources

Kainga Ora had to give themselves many years more than the private sector to bring their properties up to healthy homes standards. Because they lack the resources.

End of the day building a new property is expensive and retrofitting an old one isn't cheap either, the government would rather the private sector make the huge capital outlay and lease it off them.

by Nzdan | 21st Oct 22, 8:43am 1666294998

That's because the private sector of tradespeople wouldn't be able to manage the workload in such a short time. Do you think Kainga Ora have their own internally hired plumbers, gibstoppers and carpenters? No, they would employ the private sector.

Yes it's not ideal that the private sector have a shorter time frame, but it just is what it is. The alternative would be to what? Stretch out health homes requirements to 10 years and watch everyone in the private sector diddle about for 9.5 years?

by RickStrauss | 21st Oct 22, 9:45am 1666298703

Kainga Ora had to give themselves many years more than the private sector to bring their properties up to healthy homes standards.

Still occasionally repeated and still misrepresenting the facts.

by Juzz | 20th Oct 22, 8:49pm 1666252156

Taxpayers fund landlords through accommodation supplements. Without them, rents would be much lower, and by proxy house prices too.

Most landlords jack rent up maximum amount every chance they get and make tenants repair their substandard homes.

by jimmyH | 20th Oct 22, 5:52pm 1666241573

So ,the common Trope of property investors "putting the rent up to cover costs", is really not playing out.Can only get worse as Tenants budgets are squeezed by inflation.

by Jamin | 20th Oct 22, 7:43pm 1666248189

Yip. In those locations rents have pretty much reduced in price by 7% over the last year. Compared to inflation they will likely come down more. Renters should be very happy.

by K.W. | 20th Oct 22, 6:15pm 1666242919

Its only because of the negative population growth that Auckland and Wellington are experiencing, along with the 200,000 brand new permanent residents suddenly being legally able to buy houses instead of having to rent them.

In addition, existing rents are far cheaper than the rents being offered on new tenancies due to the rent freeze effect disincentivising renters to move. This too will change as the rent increases start to flow through from October onwards like they have in the last 2 years.

Lastly the borders are open again, and an unlimited number of immigrants are now able to move to New Zealand, along with all the international students returning in the new year. Give it six months, and the current rental glut will become a tight squeeze.

by JCB123 | 20th Oct 22, 8:19pm 1666250363

Didn't take long to go from a housing shortage to an oversupply, what was everyone worried about.

by Fitzgerald | 20th Oct 22, 8:32pm 1666251127

There is nothing that a vampire squid loves more than a tight squeeze.

by Juzz | 20th Oct 22, 8:55pm 1666252509

Last I heard we were experiencing a net migration loss.

by K.W. | 20th Oct 22, 9:40pm 1666255200

Auckland rental listings up 51% from a period when all of Auckland was in a LOCKDOWN. Well, imagine that! When are we going to get over the complete stupidity of comparing today's normal with lockdown periods?

by PocketAces | 21st Oct 22, 7:58am 1666292317

Wouldn't it be lovely if this is the beginning of the end of the rentier class that's grown here and the end of 'people farming'.