The rent increase is up 5.27 per cent on December 2022’s average of $629.09.

The statistics from Barfoot & Thompson’s data are drawn from rents paid across nearly 17,500 Auckland properties managed by the agency, including existing and new tenancies.

Barfoot & Thompson’s Property Management general manager, Samantha Arnold, says after several years of relatively slow and steady movement of about 2.5-3 per cent year-on-year, the average weekly rent shifted up a gear last quarter when it rose 4.44 per cent for September year-on-year.

“That was the first time in five years the average rent rose above four per cent and it appears it may have marked the start of a new pricing cycle.”

She says many factors are feeding into rising demand and constrained supply, which is driving prices up.

“More and more Aucklanders are renting, and the recent return of long-term visitors and international students to New Zealand, alongside record-high net migration, are now adding significantly to the number of people seeking a rental home.”

Even the weather events early last year are having an ongoing impact, she says, making some homes unavailable and forcing renters and property owners to move into new rentals.

“Supply also remains constrained. There are too few rental properties available, and we are seeing a slightly lower turnover as tenants seek to avoid the added costs of moving and landlords seek the security of longer-term tenancies.”

Apartment market

Also at play in the overall figure was a rebound in rents in central Auckland’s CBD apartment market.

“While rental prices were on the rise by more than three per cent in all areas, the central Auckland figures have given the overall average an added boost,” Arnold says.

CBD apartments recorded the biggest increase in weekly rents in December, with the average up 9.91 per cent year-on-year.

This means a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre cost nearly $40 more per week, and a two-bedroom apartment more than $56 more per week, than in December 2022.

“Like many cities around the world, Auckland’s CBD apartment market was hard hit by the pandemic, but as the country’s largest city with two big universities at its centre, it had also been poised for a strong recovery once the border opened and visitors and students returned.

“After some tentative steps in late 2022 and steady growth throughout 2023, it has more than regained that lost ground, and December’s average weekly rent of $565.65 surpassed central Auckland’s pre-pandemic peak of about $521.”

Looking elsewhere across the city, the second highest increase in average weekly rents was recorded in the Franklin and rural Manukau area, up 6.57 per cent.

Western fringe

Lowest rent rises were in central Auckland’s western fringe, capturing suburbs like Grey Lynn, Point Chevalier, Ponsonby and Waterview, up 3.11 per cent, followed by the North Shore at 3.90 per cent.

By size, one-bedroom properties had the highest increase in average weekly rent, lifting 6.41 per cent, boosted by the rebound in the CBD apartment market, an area where Barfoot & Thompson has twice as many one-bedroom rental properties on its books than any other area of Auckland.

Three-bedroom properties and properties with five or more bedrooms rose in price slightly slower, up 4.67 per cent and 4.93 per cent respectively.