Why a remote small city is now New Zealand's most expensive place to rent

Sunday, 25 May 2025

Gisborne is encouraging digital nomads and remote workers to come to the region for the 'best work life balance'.

A small east coast city is now the country’s most expensive place to rent a home, surpassing former frontrunners Tāmaki Makaurau and Tauranga.

Gisborne’s housing stock was impacted by a double blow of Covid-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle.

The government’s tax incentives have not enticed rental investors to the region, with Gisborne’s high rates and insurance costs eating up desired returns.

Gisborne may not be thought of as expensive, but suddenly it's the priciest place to find a flat. It's even left Auckland in its dust. Annemarie Quill reports on the country's hottest rental market.

It’s a crown no one wants to wear: Gisborne is now Aotearoa’s most expensive place to rent - a simple studio will set you back $430 a week.

Until now, it’s been a two contestant race between Auckland and Bay of Plenty, but Gisborne has soared to record highs of $680 a week.

It is the highest median rate in the country, bucking the trend of falling rents in the rest of the motu, according to latest data from Trade Me.

Trade Me’s rental price index for April 2025.

Seven hours from Auckland and three hours to an urban centre, Gisborne’s one of the most remote places in New Zealand. It used to be seen as an inexpensive place to live, with the Government choosing it for a campaign to attract remote workers and digital nomads.

Those nomads might get a visa, but getting a roof over their head will cost them.

A lack of housing supply from the dual impacts of the pandemic and Cyclone Gabrielle have driven up rental prices in a city that used to be inexpensive to rent.

As a result, Gisborne is the worst region in the country for rental housing affordability, property specialists told Stuff.

Gisborne’s median rent rose 4.6% in April to $680 per week, an increase of $30 a week, according to Trade Me’s latest rental price index.

Trade Me Property spokeswoman, Casey Wylde.

The east coast city now has the highest median rent in the country, followed by Auckland at $670 (down 1.5%), Hawkes Bay at $670 (up 6.3%) and $660 in the Bay of Plenty (down 2.9%).

Across the country, there have been a record number of rental listings this year, Trade Me Property’s Casey Wilde said.

“The current supply remains up 27% on the same time last year and is helping to keep a downward pressure on rental prices, offering renters more options and leverage to negotiate.”

Not so in Gisborne, where there are less rental properties, Wilde said.

“Movement in the median rental price can fluctuate more so than those regions where there’s greater supply,” she said.

The spike in rent is also due to the types of properties available.

“In April there were more houses for rent compared to units, townhouses and apartments - which typically have lower rents than the bigger properties,” Wilde said.

“Of those houses for rent, more of them were three or more bedrooms which demand a higher rent.“

Gisborne now has the highest rents in the country. Out of 39 properties currently listed on Trade Me, more than half are above $680, the city’s new median asking price. This country home with a salt water pool, 20 minutes from the centre, will set you back $1200 a week.

Gisborne is the region faring worst in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development rental affordability, measuring rent and household income.

Kelvin Davidson, chief property economist for Cotality NZ, formerly CoreLogic, said while Gisborne had cheaper rents in the past than nearby cities, the gap started to close from 2018.

Tenancy bond figures, published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, showed the median weekly rent price in Gisborne was $120 30 years ago.

In March 2025, it was $650, an increase of more than 442% - higher than the national increase of 300%.

That was due to basic economics of supply and demand, Davidson said.

“First Covid, then Cyclone Gabrielle impacted housing stock,” he said.

Gisborne has the highest rents in the country. This one-bedroom studio with off street parking is currently listed at $430 a week.

“As we saw after the Christchurch earthquakes, despite some residents leaving, after a disaster there’s an influx of temporary workers so demand for rentals at a time of restricted housing stock means that rental prices have been driven upwards.”

Hamish Harrison, property investment specialist at Ray White Gisborne agrees.

“A limited housing supply, worsened by weather events and a rise in short-term rentals for contractors, means quality long-term rentals are highly sought after,” he said.

Rental prices have steadily increased due to sustained demand from people relocating for work in the region’s primary industries and cyclone recovery efforts, he said.

“Smaller units or flats are most in demand, especially among first-time renters and older tenants looking for affordable, manageable housing options,” Harrison said.

There are 39 Gisborne rental properties listed on Trade Me as at May 23.

Twenty of them are at, or higher, than the median rent of $680.

Those properties range from $1200 per week for four or more bedrooms, to $700 to $800 for three bedrooms, depending on area and house.

The cheapest property is a one-bedroom rural cottage, located 15 minutes from town, for $350 a week.

Nearer to town, studios are more than $400 a week.

An earlier version of this story quoted Liam Erickson making reference to measures, including the reduction of the bright-line test. Mr Erickson never made these references. (Amended 8.21am, 26/05/2025)