The cost of renting a house in South or West Auckland has increased at double the rate of the cost throughout the rest of the country over the last year.
Weekly median rents in Manukau and Waitakere rose by 8.43% and 7.90% over the year to February 28, while the national median only increased by 4.29%.
The median rent tenants in Manukau are paying each week is $450 – $35 more than they were paying last year. Those in Waitakere are paying $437 – $32 more.
The national medium rent is $365 – $15 more than it was in February 2014.
The figures come from monthly data provided by the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment’s Tenancy Bond Service.
The data relates to the rents tenants pay when they first move into a property, and not rents of renewals on existing properties.
The Super City’s urban sprawl
When averaging medium rents across the Auckland region, including Rodney, the North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland City, Manukau, and Papakura, the increase is 4.49% over the year.
This is somewhat on par with the national increase of 4.29%.
The weekly median rent hasn’t increased at all in Papakura, remaining at $390.
It only rose by 2.04% in the North Shore, remaining the highest in the Auckland region at $500 a week.
The median rent jumped 4.65% to $450 in Auckland City.
It’s likely the demand for rentals in south and west Auckland is shooting up, as those in central Auckland become increasingly unaffordable.
Auckland three-bedroom houses in hot demand
Looking at three-bedroom homes in the Auckland region, weekly median rents increased the most in Manukau and Auckland City over the year to February.
They increased by 12.68% in Manukau to $480 a week, and 12.64% to $597 in Auckland City.
Nationally, the median rent for a three-bedroom house increased by 8.33% to $390 a week.
The rate at which rents have gone up has really escalated since November, nationally and in Auckland.
Flat rents increase in Christchurch
The median rent for a three-bedroom house has remained $450 a week in Christchurch City, from February last year.
The median across all types of properties has increased by 5.00% to $420 a week.
The median rent for a flat rose by 6.77% to $347 a week in the year to February.
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