Auckland rents up 4.4 pc: Top areas revealed

Auckland rental data is out from Barfoot & Thompson. Photo/Doug Sherring

Auckland rents rose 4.4 per cent annually, hitting an average $524/week at the end of last year, up from $502/week at the end of 2015, Barfoot & Thompson says - but rents for one-bedroom places have now passed a new threshold.

"[There was a] 9 per cent year on year increase in rental properties being managed by Barfoot & Thompson, with strongest growth in Franklin, Rodney, and Central Auckland," the agency said.

"Rent increased by 4.4 per cent in Q4 2016 compared with Q4 2015, with average weekly rent for a three-bedroom home now $525. For the first time the average rent for a one bedroom property in all areas of Auckland has passed $300," said the agency which manages about 14,000 Auckland rental properties.

A chart identified Auckland's most expensive area as the central city where three-bedroom places go for an average $887/week, followed by the eastern suburbs at $630/week, then the central suburbs at $592/week and the North Shore at $559/week.

Two-bedroom places in each of those areas are $545/week, $471/week, $462/week and $447/week.

Kiri Barfoot, a director of the agency, said rents were not rising that sharply.

"Rents have risen at quite a modest rate given the record house sales prices we saw last year. Most property owners would prefer a trustworthy long-term tenant, paying rent on time, to asking for higher rent," she said.

"Landlords obviously consider the return on investment, but are very conscious an empty property doesn't pay rent. This is why we don't tend to see tenants being hit with large rent increases even when house prices or interest rates rise."