Auckland rental prices up 7.6 per cent

A house with a For Rent sign in Ponsonby, Auckland. Photo / Doug Sherring

Auckland tenants are having to fork out more money each week as the price of renting an Auckland house continues its upward climb.

The latest Trade Me Property Rental Price Index shows in the year to June 2015 the median weekly rent for an Auckland home rose by 7.6 per cent, up $35 per week to $495 per week.

This was $5 more a week compared to last month's median.

In comparison the median weekly rent elsewhere in the country was up 2.2 per cent, up $10 a week over the last year to just $360.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries says Auckland's rental market is on par with the city's sale market.

"In 2014 rents were rising at an annual rate of around two per cent a year, but the first six months of 2015 have upped the ante with rents rising at an average of six per cent and now heading toward eight percent in the year to June."

He added an Auckland tenant would now be paying around $25,740 compared to just under $24,000 per annum in June last year.

Prices around the rest of the country are relatively subdued.

Eight of the 14 regions reported growth in median weekly rents, four regions saw falls and two were unchanged.

Taranaki showed the greatest growth up 12.5 per cent in the last year to $360, with Gisborne coming in a close second at 11.1 per cent to $300 a week.

Otago showed the greatest drop in rental prices, down 5.5 per cent to $300, followed by Canterbury with a drop of 4.4 per cent to $430, in the year to June.