Inflation hits residential rents: New figures show how tenants are affected

Inflation is now also pushing up rents. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Rising inflation has begun to affect residential rents, according to Trade Me, with the national median weekly rent up 7 per cent annually to $575/week in March.

TradeMe cited record-high annual inflation growth in the first quarter as influencing rents.

Gavin Lloyd, Trade Me property sales director, said this would be hard news for tenants, already feeling the impact of inflation, up 6.9 per cent in the first quarter to March 31.

"It's not an easy time to be a renter as Kiwis are having to fork out significantly more for everyday items across the board, including housing costs," he said today.

Bay of Plenty median weekly rents rose 9 per cent annually $600 for the first time on record.

The Manawatū/Whanganui median weekly rent also fell into a new bracket at $500 for the first time marking a 14 per cent annual rent increase, he said.

In Waikato, median weekly rents reached $520, up 7 per cent annually.

The largest growth in median weekly rent was in the Taranaki region, up 18 per cent annually to $530/week.

Auckland rents rose 3 per cent annually to $610/week in March, matching the previous record-high first recorded in January.

The most expensive areas were North Shore City, Rodney and Papakura, which all had a median weekly rent of $650.

Demand in the Auckland region was down by 13 per cent year-on-year in March, while supply increased by 2 per cent.

In March, the most popular listing was a four-bedroom house on Youngs Grove, Franklin. That cost $680/week and got 90 inquiries in its first two days onsite.

In January, the Herald reported Auckland rents showed a "continued upward trend", rising fastest for one-bedroom places and particularly in the south and west, a property management business says.

Barfoot & Thompson, which manages more than 16,000 dwellings in the city, said one-bedroom rents rose 3.13 per cent annually.

"The end-of-year figures show the continued upward trend in rents across the city," the agency said today of all the data.

South Auckland rents rose the fastest in the December year, up 4.72 per cent annually to an average $664/week for a four-bedroom place, the agency's data showed.