Rents up again in Feb - 6.5pc lift across NZ

Nationally, rents rose 6.5 per cent in the last year to $410 a week but that is below February's all-time high of $420 a week. Photo / Thinkstock

Auckland rental real estate remains New Zealand's most expensive but the tight Christchurch situation appears to be improving as more places come on the market.

Nigel Jeffries, head of Trade Me Property, has just released the latest rental data which showed Auckland rents up 5.6 per cent annually.

"With a median asking rent of $475 per week Auckland remains the most expensive place to rent a property in New Zealand, ahead of Christchurch ($450 per week) and Wellington ($420 per week)," he said.

Christchurch showed signs of easing with rental listings up 16 per cent year-on-year in February, the highest level since May 2011.

"It's been very tight on the supply side for a couple of years, but in February we saw that annual rental growth was pretty subdued. This is underpinned by more listings hitting the market and alleviating the pressure," Jeffries said.

Nationally, rents rose 6.5 per cent in the last year to $410 a week but that is below February's all-time high of $420 a week, he said.

The Trade Me Property Rental Price Index examines rental market price trends by type and size of property across New Zealand, looking at the data of properties rented in the month by property managers and private landlords.

The index showed Auckland's 5.6 per cent from last February to last month but rents fell in Gisborne and on the West Coast.

Over the past five years, the median weekly rents rose 20.6 per cent from $340 a week to $410 a week. Jeffries said the majority of that was in the past two years, with rents up by 10.8 per cent from $370 per week in February 2013 to $410 per week last month.

In January, Kiri Barfoot, a Barfoot & Thompson director, and David Whitburn, immediate past president of the Auckland Property Investors Association, said Auckland rents rose 4.6 per cent in the year to November 30 - up an average $21 a week across all suburbs and all property categories - and a similar increase could be expected this year as rising demand continues to squeeze an already tight sector.

Barfoot's figures show the average weekly rent rose $19 to $476 for a three-bedroom house, $17 to $499 for a four-bedroom home and $40 to $749 for five or more bedrooms.

Conditions that led to last year's rises - including landlords being optimistic about getting more rent and high levels of domestic and international migration - would continue this year, they said.

See the latest Trade Me release here: