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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7 Comments
Hi Simon,
According to MBIE figures, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Wellington City has increased from $450 to $460 per week, over the year to February 28 2015.
The other Wellington figure I find quite interesting is the jump in rents for 3-bedroom houses. The median has increased from $495 in January, to $525 in February, which is $25 more than what it was in February last year.
I wander if rents go up in Feb, as the students roll in?
I heard this report on Radio NZ this morning about a shortage of houses for students to rent. Vic Uni says there's the same issue every year. I'm not too sure?
If they mean rents go up every February, then that is correct, if they mean rents go up in Feb then drop again in March that is not true. These stats are YoY, not MoM. So yes rents went up 10% Feb last year and everyone said it was just a seasonal thing because of students, but this year they are up again. It's got to be tough, especially when rents were already high.
I was looking at te aro and Lambton specifically which i watch closely..medians gone from mid 400 to 500 over the 18 months or so I've owned there.. i guess wellington overall might not be seeing the same increases most of the rental demand is in central welly near vic or walking distance to cbd/parliament..
Tough for students, the much much lower rents in the more pure student cities of dunedin , p.n are the obvious choice for the more financially savy student/parent
FYI a stat from my Ponsonby villa (bought on the eve of the crash!): 2007 to 2014: Rent appreciation 2% P.A. (15% total) and capital appreciation has been 6% P.A. (50% total) Have been conservative on my CV but maybe it could be 7% P.A. on a good auction day...not bad and better than the bank.
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