Residential rents are flat or falling in most parts of the country giving landlords little to cheer about

The softness in residential rents that has been evident for advertised rental properties over winter is starting to appear in bond data from Tenancy Services.

That suggests the actual levels of rents being agreed between tenants and landlords are now starting to decline.

Most of the bonds received by Tenancy Services are for new tenancies, and because landlords use the figures to help determine where to set rents on properties when they become vacant, or where to set the rent when it comes up for review on an existing tenancy, they are a leading indicator of where overall rents are headed.

In July the median residential rent across the entire country was $590 a week, down by $5 a week compared to June.

The national median rent has been in a slow but steady decline since it peaked at $620 a week in January this year. That followed on from the 11 previous months when it remained firmly stuck on $600 a week.

So overall there was no movement in the national median rent last year and then a slow decline this year. 

Of the 16 regions where rents are monitored monthly, eight posted declines in July compared to June, six showed no change and just two posted increases for the month. See the table below for the full monthly figures.

Of course there were some interesting regional variations.

One of the biggest drops in rent was for two bedroom apartments in Auckland's CBD.

Their median rent declined by $50 a week over two months, from $600 a week in May to $590 in June and $550 in July, a decline of -8.3% over two months. See the graph below.

Rents were a bit more resilient for one bedroom apartments in Auckland's CBD, remaining unchanged at $450 a week from May to July, but down from $470 a week in April.

Rents in the Wellington Region have also been in a steady slide since they peaked at $650 a week in January and February this year, then steadily declined to $585 in July. That's a drop of $65 a week (-10%) since the start of the year.

Overall, there is little for landlords to cheer about in the latest figures, while tenants may be breathing a little easier.