This increase is mostly the result of quake-affected residents seeking new accommodation, said Diane Colgan, property manager at First Avenue Property in Christchurch. Photo / Getty Images
This increase is mostly the result of quake-affected residents seeking new accommodation, said Diane Colgan, property manager at First Avenue Property in Christchurch. Photo / Getty Images
Rental prices have steeply increased following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, because of the large number of damaged homes.
Rental bond information from Tenancy Services, mapped into interactive graphics by the Herald, showed average rent in the city was $291/week in August 2010, which had risen to $394/week as of October this year and peaked at $434/week in February.
This increase was mostly the result of quake-affected residents seeking new accommodation, said Diane Colgan, property manager at First Avenue Property in Christchurch.
"Basically a third of the city was not habitable and people had to vacate their properties," she said.
While many left the city entirely, this was not possible for all residents.
"There's lot of people who have family here and they just couldn't move until they got their EQC payouts and all that sort of stuff sorted, they actually weren't able to move."
There had also been an influx of workers coming into the city for the rebuild, which had also added to demand, she said.
However, despite the sharp rise in prices, Ms Colgan said the market had slowed quite significantly in the past eight weeks.
"We've got a lot of vacant properties that aren't renting and I've been speaking to other agents in the city and they've been finding the same thing."
But despite the slowing of the market, she doesn't expect much change in rental prices.
"I don't know that the prices of the rentals will drop but they will certainly remain static."
How students impact rent prices
Changing student populations have a real impact on rental prices for the university-centred cities of Dunedin and Wellington.
Rental bond information from Tenancy Services, mapped into interactive graphics by the Herald, show clear fluctuations in average rental prices in both cities that correlate with the academic year.
Dunedin property spokeswoman Liz Nidd said a substantial number of leases for flats in Dunedin were full 12-month leases, despite not being occupied all of that time.
"Those properties sit there empty over the summer in most cases," she said.
Many students continue to pay rent after leaving town at the end of the academic year, she said.
"As a property owner, if you are going to provide property for that university market you've otherwise got an asset that's going to sit there for three months non-earning."
The rental property market had "always been like that" and students competed over flats for the next study year as early as August, she said.
"Those flat lists go out in August ... you've got people signing up in August to make sure they've got that special flat that they want for the next year."
Most landlords hoped to find tenants during the initial student market sales period and those who missed out could find themselves short.
"Those owners are sometimes looking at not getting the full year for the next year because if they don't get them leased before the students head off for Christmas there's a good chance they're not going to get them sorted before the students come back."
While demand for flats had been constant over the years, Ms Nidd said boundaries for student accommodation had changed, resulting in a "bit of a moving feast".
"The boundaries of the campus have changed and there's quite a lot of multi-unit developments put in right in the heart of campus."
The university itself was also offering more accommodation, she said.
Rents in January in Dunedin showed an average of $361/week, which dropped to $294/week in June, then jumped back up to $390/week in October - perhaps picking up on students securing properties for the following year.
It's a big change from 1993, where rent in the student town was an average of $145/week.
Auckland's rising house prices push rent up
Mean rent in Auckland has passed the $500 mark for the first time this year.
While many have chosen to rent rather than buy in Auckland because of rising house prices, average rent in New Zealand's biggest city passed the $500 mark for the first time this year.
North Shore rents are the country's highest at $543/week and Auckland's rents have been rising strongly since 1993, the information showed.
In 1993, Auckland's average rent sat at $200/week, with the North Shore a little higher at $209/week.
With the city's rents well above the national average, the rental gap between Auckland and the rest of the country is widening.
Comparatively, rents have an average of $414/week in Wellington, $394/week in Christchurch and $390/week in Dunedin.
In Christchurch, however, rents rose steeply after the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.
While average rent in the city was $291/week in August 2010, it's risen to a current figure of $394/week and peaked at $434/week in February this year.
