Wellington's median rent hits $550
It’s now just as expensive to rent in Wellington as it is in Auckland, with the advertised median rent $550, new Trade Me property figures show.
Wellington resident Garth Norman said he and his partner had been searching for accommodation for weeks.
The couple has a limit of $600 a week and have been searching for a two to three-bedroom flat in Wellington central and the western suburbs.
‘‘We’re finding a lot of places but not a lot of them are suitable. We’re finding places that are quite expensive but they’ll have mould.’’
They’d looked at more than 50 flats online and visited about six, Norman said.
‘‘We’re a little bit concerned but, essentially, I think the compromise will have to be that we’ll just take a place that’s probably going to be a little bit of a health risk.’’
They work fulltime and want something affordable but any flats that were decent were ‘‘snapped up’’, he said.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell said a low supply of properties in Wellington was driving rents upwards.
An on-flow of new apartment developments in Auckland had alleviated supply pressure there, particularly around affordable one and two-bedroom properties, Norwell said.
In Wellington, new developments were probably bringing more people into the region to work, increasing the demand for rentals.
REINZ would be watching closely to see what affect the abolishment of letting fees would have on rents.
‘‘Instead of passing [the cost of letting fees] onto the tenant, the property management company will now pass it onto the landlord and the landlord may pass that onto the tenant by way of rent,’’ Norwell said.
Norman said many of the flats he’d looked at had a rent increase looming for February.
‘‘The majority of those going up in February are with property managers, so I’d imagine it’d be because of letting fees.’’
The advertised median rents in the capital are up 5.8 per cent on last November, to $550 a week now.
Meanwhile in Auckland, the median rental price has flatlined for the eighth month in a row at the same price, although compared to a year ago rents are 3.8 per cent higher.
Trade Me’s head of rentals, Aaron Clancy, said in the coming months, Wellington City had a chance of overtaking Auckland city as the most expensive place to rent. Median rents in the wider region had also surpassed the $500 a week mark – up 6.4 per cent since last year.
Oxygen property management general manager Christian Casbolt called the rental conditions ‘‘a perfect storm’, saying he had seen rents increasing year-onyear for the last four years.
‘‘Our portfolio hasn’t changed in number. It’s just that tenants tend to be staying longer.’’
Tenants were increasingly choosing to renew their fixed terms or roll over their leases, Casbolt said.
‘‘We’re finding places that are quite expensive, but they’ll have mould.’’ Garth Norman