Nationally, the median weekly rent climbed back up to $580 - matching the all-time high first recorded in April.
Kiri - who did not want her surname published due to privacy reasons - and her son are living in Mount Maunganui, where she pays $550 in rent a week. She will be moving to a short-term, three-bedroom place in Pāpāmoa on December 7, which is $750 a week.
The 46-year-old said she will need to find someone to move in to help pay for the rent because “I won’t make that in a week”.
“It’s bloody hard and the prices are climbing - it’s ridiculous.”
Kiri said she worked full-time “but basically I don’t see my wages”, with 80 per cent going towards rent.
She gets an accommodation supplement from Work and Income and the Inland Revenue Department’s Working for Families worth about $290 per week. She also gets $80 a month in child support.
Kiri said she had “no choice” but to move into the $750-a-week rental due to a lack of other suitable properties. Her main priority was having somewhere “safe and secure” for her and her son, aged 12, to live.
“I pretty much got close to having to go into emergency housing, or I would have just sent my son to his sister’s and probably slept in the car because I don’t want to go into emergency housing. I can’t think of anything worse.”
Tauranga Rentals principal officer Dan Lusby said there was still “lots of demand” for rental properties as rent prices rose.
“Every property we put up, if they’re still [available] in a week’s time, it’s very surprising to be quite honest.”
Lusby said it tried to keep rent prices at market price “as much as we can”.
“But it just seems like every time a new one comes on the market, it’s higher again than the last ones.
“The interest rates are rising, investors have stopped or they can’t borrow because the banks are being too tough or they can’t afford to borrow, so we haven’t had any new house to come on the market for us to rent.”
Lusby said he hoped “the powers that be” could help with getting more houses built.
“Whether it’s developers or the council can release more land, it’s all about getting more supply so we can put a stop to those increases.
“Just the way things are and the way things have been, we can’t see anything changing in the future either, so all it means is rent is going to carry on going up.”
Tauranga Property Investors Association president Juli Anne Tolley said it was getting more tenants who were looking for new accommodation because their rental was being sold.
“This trend will increase and continue to put pressure on demand - therefore, the rents are unlikely to drop.”
Tolley said costs associated with building and maintaining property, including rates, insurance and compliance, had all contributed to the increased price of having a property.
“I believe we will see more rentals go on the market next year as owners fall out of the previous five-year bright-line threshold.
“Add to that the pressure of increased mortgage rates and the next phase of interest deductibility removal, and you have the perfect storm of a further gutting of the number of available rentals.”
Trade Me property sales director Gavin Lloyd said it saw a 25 per cent year-on-year jump in the number of rentals listed last month. Demand for rentals in the region also increased by 14 per cent in the same period.
“Going into the typically busier summer months, if supply can’t keep up with demand we may see a new record-high rent in these districts.”
Rents have risen during the past two summers in Tauranga.
In December, 2019, the median weekly rental price was $535, and by April, 2020 it was $550.
And in December, 2020, the median weekly rental price was $550; by March, 2021 it was $595.
Nationally, the median weekly rent was $580 in October, which matched the all-time high first recorded in April.
It was up four per cent - or $20 - on the same time last year, the smallest year-on-year percentage jump in more than 18 months.
