There was absolutely no overall movement in residential rents last year, with the national median rent stuck on $600 a week for all four quarters of 2024.
That follows a steady rise in rents in 2023, when the national median increased from $565 to $580 a a week.
That flatlining of rents was evident for most property types, with the national median rent for one bedroom apartment/units stuck on $450 a week since the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. That's apart from Q2 2024 when it briefly increased to $460 before dropping back to $450 again the following quarter.
Rents for three bedroom houses were also flat, with their national median stuck on $650 a week for all four quarters of last year.
The only property type to show any significant movement at the national level were two bedroom units/apartments. They remained at $600 a week for the first two quarters of last year, then dropped to $590 in Q3 and fell again to $580 in Q1.
That may reflect anecdotal reports of a surplus of new two bedroom terraced housing coming on to the rental market in parts of the country.
The flat rents evident in the national figures were generally mirrored in the regional figures in most parts of the country, however there were a few exceptions.
On the Kapiti Coast the median rent peaked at $625 in Q3 then dropped back to $595 in Q4; in Porirua the median rent peaked at $693 in Q2 then dropped back over Q3 and Q4 to finish the year at $660. In Selwyn the median rent peaked at $650 in Q2 then declined over the second half of the year to $620 in Q4.
Areas showing some upward movement were Timaru, where the median rent hit a new peak of $473 in Q4, Invercargill where the median rent peaked at $480 in Q4, and Hamilton where the median rent rose steadily to a record $570 in Q4.
Within the Auckland region, the median rent has remained unchanged at $650 a week since Q3 2023, apart from Q2 last year when it briefly popped up to $660 before drooping back to $650 in Q3 and Q4.
Within the Auckland region rents appeared to be softening slightly in the Albany, North Shore, Waitakere and Manukau wards, while none of the Auckland wards showed any significant rises.
While landlords will no doubt be lamenting the general lack of rental growth in the market, tenants may take some comfort that for the time being at least, rents appear relatively stable.
Note: Interest.co,nz's rental data comes from rental bond data gathered by Tenancy Services when new bonds are lodged. As such it is a leading indicator of changes in the rental market. The Q4 bond data for 2024 was drawn from more than 35,000 rental bonds received by Tenancy Services from throughout the country.
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