OLIVIA CALDWELL
National’s housing policy, unveiled by spokesperson Chris Bishop in Queenstown on Thursday, prompted concern from protesters who are concerned about the wellbeing of those who can’t get into houses in the tourist town.
Rents in Auckland’s CBD are on the rise for the first time in years, climbing over 3% in the year to March, the city’s biggest real estate agency says.
For the properties on Barfoot & Thompson’s books, Auckland central’s average weekly rent was $529 in March, up 3.46% on the average of $511 at the same time last year.
Apartments make up most of the rental stock in the area, and it was the segment of the city’s rental market that was hit hardest by Covid lockdowns and border closures.
Barfoot & Thompson general manager for property management Samantha Arnold said central Auckland rents declined in 2020 and 2021, and remained flat throughout 2022.
The three months to March this year was the first quarter in several years the average weekly rent in the area had increased by more than 1%, she said.
“March’s average weekly rent is also the highest recorded for this area, exceeding the previous peak of $527 set in September 2019.”
In contrast, the area’s average weekly rent was $506 at the same time in 2021.
Arnold said when Covid lockdowns, border closures and trends towards working and learning from home took hold, there was a significant drop in demand for CBD rental properties.
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The Auckland region’s average weekly rent was up 3.24% annually to $634 in March.
But the recovery had been building since late last year, when property managers began to report an increase in demand coinciding with shortening supply, she said.
“Now, with the borders open and domestic and international students, city workers and tourists returning to the CBD, there is higher pressure on supply and prices than we’ve seen for some time.”
Rental demand was up across the Auckland region, but rent increases had remained within the expected trend to date, she said.
The region’s average weekly rent was $634 in March, up 3.24% on the average of $616 at the same time last year.
It was up on the annual rent increase of 3.19% recorded in March last year, but well down on the biggest annual increase recorded, which was 6.62% between December 2014 and 2015.
Rent increases across the region varied widely. In west central Auckland rents were up just 0.43% to a weekly average of $688, but in Franklin and rural Manukau they were up 7.24% to $556 a week.
In west Auckland, Rodney, south Auckland and Pakuranga/Howick rents rose by between 3.50% and 4.73%, while North Shore, central Auckland east and east Auckland increases ranged from 1.68% to 1.93%.
East Auckland had the most expensive rents in the region, with a weekly average of $707 a week.
The average weekly rent for a typical three-bedroom home, which make up the bulk of the rental stock, was $641, an annual increase of 3.66%.
Arnold said outside the CBD, the biggest demand for rental homes in the wider region had come from incoming migrants on working visas, and people who had been forced out of their homes due to recent weather events.
“As a result, inquiries for properties to let during this period were up by around 30% on what we would receive during a more typical quarter.”
Economist Tony Alexander recently said that rents were set to increase this year as landlords responded to a surge in demand, accelerated by strong migration, and rising costs.
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