There are more rentals available in Wellington – but it’ll cost you
The good news is there are more rental properties available in Wellington – but the bad news is that the capital is the third-most expensive place in the country to rent.
While rental prices have dropped for the second month in a row, Wellington is just behind Auckland and Bay of Plenty for the cost of rentals, with prices being over $650 a week.
Trade Me’s property rental price index shows that New Zealand rents fell in July, for the second month in a row.
The statistics showed that Wellington also had a 2.9% decrease for townhouses, which stands in stark contrast to the record prices seen for the same type of properties in Christchurch.
There were more rental properties coming to market across the country.
Trade Me Property’s customer director
Gavin Lloyd said that while any decrease in rent was positive for tenants, it might have a limited impact after numerous increases over the past 12 months.
“In the current economic environment, any reduction in rent is sure to come as welcome news, but the reality is rental prices are still $20 higher than they were this time last year, and we’d need another four months of decreases to get back to where we started.
“Only time will tell whether prices will follow the usual seasonal pattern and pick up come summer, or whether rising unemployment and a stagnant economy will suppress rents heading into the high season,” Lloyd said.
Rental listings on the Trade Me site skyrocketed in July to reach the highest number since 2019, when Trade Me started recording data, and represent an 11% increase compared with June, and a 46% increase year on year.
Gisborne, the West Coast, Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Bay of Plenty were the regions driving the high supply of rental properties.
Lloyd said that while there was plenty of supply, renters in some regions could have a tougher time securing a place, particularly those in Gisborne, Marlborough, Otago and Nelson, where demand was outpacing supply.
The North Island is still more expensive than the South Island, although rent in Canterbury hit a new high in July, reaching $580.
“Rental prices are still $20 higher than they were this time last year.”
Gavin Lloyd, Trade Me Property