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How Auckland rent compares to other New Zealand cities

Of the major cities in New Zealand, only Wellington city has kept pace with Auckland rental prices over the past three years.

Auckland region's average rental price across all property sizes increased by 5% between 2014 and 2015*, slightly lower than the 6% growth seen between the same period in 2013 and 2014.

Only Wellington city** kept pace with Auckland, with their average weekly rent increasing to $525 in Q4 of 2015, compared with Auckland region's $533 average weekly rent.

Christchurch has seen a marked drop in rent received. Following the 2011 earthquake, Christchurch experienced sharp annual growth, but this seems to have levelled off as more rental properties become available. Rental prices fell by 4% over the last year.

The regions South of Auckland (Papakura and Franklin) have shown strong growth over the past few years, as Aucklanders are prepared to travel further afield to avoid the higher rent in more central areas.

* Data gathered between October to December 2014 and October to December 2015.
** Wellington City only, not including Upper or Lower Hutt.

Source: Rental prices in Auckland (including Auckland Central, Manukau, North Shore, Rodney, Papakura, Franklin Waitakere), Wellington, Christchurch, and Hamilton over the past three years. The numbers are taken from the bonds received at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. This bond data is then compiled into three-monthly data sets, covering the final quarter of the year (October to December).

Average rent across New Zealand's major cities from 2013 to 2015

Please scroll data
Q4
2013		 Q4
2014		 Q4
2015		 Difference
between
2013 - 2014		 Difference
between
2014 - 2015
Auckland Central $563 $603 $629 7% 4%
North Shore $517 $546 $565 6% 3%
Wellington $487 $513 $525 5% 2%
Manukau $437 $464 $493 6% 6%
Rodney District $438 $469 $486 7% 4%
Waitakere $417 $438 $471 5% 8%
Papakura District $384 $416 $453 8% 9%
Christchurch $449 $456 $436 1% -4%
Franklin District $364 $399 $419 10% 5%
Hamilton $341 $353 $376 3% 7%
Dunedin $316 $334 $338 6% 1%
Auckland region  $478  $508  $533  6%  5% 

What's happened over the last 10 years?

  • Over the past 10 years, Wellington had the highest percentage increase in weekly rent (54%).
  • Other than Franklin, all of the Auckland regions have seen growth of over 45%.
  • Hamilton saw the lowest growth of the 10 year period, with rental prices increasing by just 36%.
Chart showing rental growth across the major cities in NZ over the past 10 years

Rental growth in New Zealand's major cities over the last 10 years

Please scroll data
Q4
2005		 Q4
2015		 %
Change
Wellington $321 $493 54%
Rodney District $296 $453 53%
Christchurch $286 $436 52%
Auckland $414 $629 52%
North Shore $277 $419 51%
Papakura District $317 $471 49%
Waitakere $330 $486 47%
Manukau $389 $565 45%
Dunedin $370 $525 42%
Franklin District $240 $338 41%
Hamilton $277 $376 36%

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