Trade Me: Typical rent tops $500

Auckland mum Sarah Hunt despairs when she hears the median rent for a typical New Zealand house listed on Trade Me has now hit $500 a week.

‘‘I just can’t fathom that. How do people afford that?’’

Hunt and her partner rent a very small two-bedroom flat from her grandparents. They need somewhere bigger but the rents are ‘‘horrendous’’.

She said she could not stretch to $500 a week. ‘‘How are families meant to move forward, or up, or get a better rental if they are charged so much?‘‘

Trade Me Property counts a typical rental property as one with three or four bedrooms.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said these rents have lifted more than 30 per cent in the past five years.

‘‘Back in 2012, tenants were forking out $380 a week or just under $20,000 per annum for a place with three or four bedrooms. Fast-forward to today’s rental market and tenants are staring down the barrel at an additional $6000 on their yearly bill,’’ he said.

The largest five-year increase in median weekly rent for three- to fourbedroom properties was in the Bay of Plenty, where it rose from $340 to $465 – adding $6500 to the annual cost of renting. Auckland was not far behind, with a rise of $5460 over five years.

But the rental market in Christchurch ‘‘could not be more different,’’ Jeffries said.

‘‘For the past 12 months the rental market has been static, holding steady at $400 a week before slipping again last month to $395.’’

The most notable rises this month are in the South Island, with big lifts for the West Coast and Marlborough. Marlborough showed strength in February with median weekly rents lifting 19.7 per cent annually to $395.

‘‘This boost is in large part due to the post-earthquake demand for contract workers in the region, and it looks like it will continue to be tough for tenants because of Marlborough’s relatively small volume of rental stock,’’ Jeffries said.

The West Coast is a small market with low turnover, contributing to the volatility in median weekly rents that were up 19.6 per cent year-on-year to $275.

Hunt said life had got harder for tenants. ‘‘How do people afford these rents and raise families?

‘‘It’s going to be down to what my partner and I inherit, or down to what we can combine with savings and Kiwisaver and trying to desperately get into the home market.

‘‘Why would anyone want to pay $500 per week to pay someone else’s mortgage?’’

"How do people afford these rents and raise families?" Sarah Hunt