Weekly rents continue to rise

New rises mean tenants are paying $25 more per week in April 2015 than they were a year ago. Photo / Thinkstock

Median weekly rents continued to grow steadily in the 12 months to April, rising 6.3 per cent to a record-equaling $420 per week, says Trade Me Property's figures based on current landlord charges.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said that equated to tenants paying $25 more per week in April 2015 than they were a year ago.

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"In basic terms, across New Zealand tenants are digging into their bank accounts to pay about $1300 more per annum to rent a property.

"Across the country, the rental market has consistently delivered median rental growth north of 7 per cent year-on-year in 2015, accelerating on growth of about 5 per cent over the same period last year."

Mr Jeffries said it was too early to assess the impact of the raft of property and tax changes announced by the Government over recent weeks.

The Rental Price Index measures trends in the expectations of median weekly rents for residential properties on Trade Me Property that have been rented out by real estate property managers and private landlords over the past month.

Around 11,000 rental properties are let out via Trade Me Property each month.

Over the past 5 years, the median weekly rent across New Zealand has risen by 23.5 per cent from $340 per week in April 2010 to $420 per week last month. Mr Jeffries said the majority of this $120 per week increase had occurred since the middle of 2013.

Four regions reported double-digit rental growth in the year to April 2015. Leading the way was Gisborne (+20 per cent), followed by Marlborough (+12.3 per cent), Bay of Plenty (+10.9 per cent) and Southland (+10.0 per cent).