Rents in Auckland, Wellington up

Rents in Auckland and Wellington increased last month despite remaining largely unchanged elsewhere. Photo / Ted Baghurst.

Rents in New Zealand's two most populous cities increased last month despite remaining largely unchanged elsewhere, according to the Trade Me Property Rental Index.

The median weekly rent in New Zealand was $440 in October, the fourth consecutive month it has been at this figure.

In Auckland, tenants were being asked to pay $510 a week - $10 more than September. The average annual rent cost for a typical Auckland property is now $26,520 - still a lot less than the cost of most mortgages in the city.

Rents in Wellington have been growing steadily since July and last month jumped a further 7.7 per cent to $420 per week.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said the Wellington market showed no sign of slowing down as the market moves into summer and the competitive New Year renting period.

Outside of Wellington and Auckland, Southland, Marlborough and Bay of Plenty all had considerable rent increases, with double-digit growth on last year and record median weekly rents.

"Marlborough and Southland both hit record weekly rents of $350 and $250 respectively as the juggernaut of the rental market, Bay of Plenty, kept rolling on. Median weekly rents in the bay are up more than 15 per cent on this time last year to $410, and just $10 less than Wellington," Jeffries said. "The growth in the Bay of Plenty has been phenomenal."

Jeffries said apartments, townhouses and units were more affordable options for tenants with all three property types seeing lower median rent rises than traditional family homes.

"Auckland apartments, which have been very strong recently, only ticked up 2.2 per cent on last year with a $10 rise in median weekly rents," he said.

Wellington's house market strength was also reflected in urban property, with the highest median weekly rent jumps of 5.6 per cent, while in Christchurch the urban property options were down 7.9 per cent.

Trade Me Property Rental Index is produced from Trade Me Property data of properties that have been rented in the month by property managers and private landlords.