Rents were well up in December compared to a year earlier in most of the main centres while the number of properties being let was well down, according to bonds received by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
The biggest increase in rent occurred in Rodney in the north of Auckland, where the median rent for newly tenanted properties increased by $50 a week (12.7%), from $395 a week in December 2013 to $445 a week last month.
That was followed by Waitakere in Auckland's west where the median rent for new tenancies increased by $40 a week (10.3%) to $430.
But rent increases were more modest in the central suburbs of the Auckland isthmus, where they were up $25 a week (5.9%) and in Manukau where they were up $20 a week (4.8%).
In other main centres rents increases were generally lower (see table below), with the median rent in Wellington City rising up 3.8% compared with December 2013, while in Christchurch the median rent of $380 a week in December was unchanged from a year earlier, adding to growing evidence that the city's housing shortage could be stating to ease.
There were two cities where median rents had declined, Palmerston North where they were down 6.8% in December compared to a year earlier, and Dunedin where they were down 1%.
However while rents were generally headed up around most parts of the country, the number of new lettings in December was significantly down on a year earlier.
In all of the main centres except New Plymouth, the decline in the number of properties being newly tenanted in December fell by double digits when compared with December 2013.
In six centres the decline in new lettings was above 20% (see table below).
The biggest decline in new lettings was in Tauranga where they were down 37.1% compared with a year earlier.
The trend for rents to be rising while the number of properties being let is declining suggests the residential rental market is continuing to tighten and the imbalance between the supply and demand for housing is continuing to worsen.
| Median Weekly Rent | Number of New Tenancies | |||||
| Dec 2013 | Dec 2014 | % Change | Dec 2013 | Dec 2014 | % Change | |
| Rodney | 395 | 445 | 12.7 | 169 | 153 | -16.0 |
| North Shore | 480 | 500 | 4.2 | 446 | 392 | -12.1 |
| Waitakere | 390 | 430 | 10.3 | 291 | 247 | -15.1 |
| Central Auckland | 425 | 450 | 5.9 | 1250 | 1071 | -14.3 |
| Manukau | 420 | 440 | 4.8 | 513 | 409 | -20.3 |
| Hamilton | 310 | 320 | 3.2 | 459 | 366 | -20.3 |
| Tauranga | 340 | 350 | 2.9 | 329 | 207 | -37.1 |
| Rotorua | 250 | 260 | 4.0 | 188 | 152 | -19.1 |
| New Plymouth | 320 | 350 | 9.4 | 125 | 138 | 10.4 |
| Palmerston North | 295 | 275 | -6.8 | 229 | 150 | -34.5 |
| Lower Hutt | 310 | 320 | 3.2 | 162 | 115 | -29.0 |
| Wellington City | 395 | 410 | 3.8 | 616 | 532 | -13.6 |
| Christchurch | 380 | 380 | 0 | 886 | 683 | -22.9 |
| Dunedin | 300 | 297 | -1.0 | 402 | 372 | -7.5 |
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