Interactive: Auckland rentals more expensive in South and North, cheaper in East

New rentals are getting more expensive in South Auckland and the North Shore, but cheaper in some eastern and inner suburbs, according to the latest Government rental data.

Leading the increase is Otahuhu West, which has bucked Auckland trends for rent growth in the past decade. New rentals were 21 per cent more expensive than the same period last year, but Otahuhu West remains the cheapest area in Auckland.

The North Shore continued its decade-long growth with many areas experiencing double-digit increase since last year. The biggest exception was Takapuna Central, where new rentals were 8 per cent cheaper.

Meanwhile, in Mt Wellington North, one of the most popular areas with nearly 1300 rental properties, prices for new rentals dropped sharply, down 13 per cent from the previous year.

The trends are volatile across Point Chev and Grey Lynn, but many areas are showing big drops compared with the same price last year. The availability of cheaper rentals in Surrey Crescent over the past few years had already made it the inner suburb with the lowest average rent. Prices for new rentals fell another 18 per cent in the past year.

The inner city has seen mixed results, with a 12 per cent increase in the harbourside area, but little change in the other CBD areas.

Explore the trends for yourself in the interactive map below. You can zoom to different cities around the country and view different time periods by dragging the slider bar.

This data is compiled by MBIE using tenancy bond information, so it only covers new tenancies and not existing ones. Caution should be taken when interpreting the data as it can be skewed by compositional effects (e.g. If a new block of cheap apartment is completed, the average rent for new rentals will appear to be lower) and seasonal effects (e.g. If all the cheap student flats come on the market at the start of the university year, the average rent will appear to be lower in the student-heavy areas).

The new data follows analysis last week from OneRoof and Valocity showing it was cheaper to buy than rent in nearly 200 towns and suburbs across New Zealand.

In Auckland Central, a typical month's mortgage repayments were $670 less than rent for the same period.

Other standout areas included Invercargill, Rotorua and Whanganui. In parts of the latter, first-home buyers could save up to $1000 a month by paying off a home loan rather than renting, the OneRoof-Valocity data showed.