"Rising house prices in Auckland have seen activity in the surrounding regions boom. Tenants in the Bay of Plenty took a $3120 hit to the wallet over the past year, with median weekly rent for a typical property up a whopping 17 per cent on a year ago to $420 a week."
Northland also outpaced Auckland, with a 12 per cent annual increase in median weekly rent, up $10 a week in June to $330, and adding $1800 to the annual bill for tenants.
Other regions seeing increases in median weekly rent included Manawatu/Whanganui, Hawke's Bay, and Otago. Excluding Auckland, the national median weekly rent was up 5.6 per cent per annum to $430 a week.
Jeffries said it had been a decent year for tenants in Christchurch with a consistent downward trend in median weekly rent, but it was a different story for landlords with empty properties.
"In June, the Garden City entered its 14th consecutive month of rental declines as landlords weathered the economic challenges facing the region. Median weekly rent sat at $400 a week in June, down 9 per cent on last year, and down $50 per week since June 2014."