Auckland rental market tips in favour of tenants

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

The average weekly rent in the apartment-dominated Auckland CBD market has declined, Barfoot & Thompson says.

Auckland rents inched up by the lowest amount in five years, and the region now has a “renters’ market“, the city’s biggest real estate agency says.

Barfoot & Thompson’s latest quarterly rental update shows the average weekly rent for the 17,500 rental properties on its books across the region was $693 last month.

While that was an annual increase of 1.99% from $678 at the same time last year, it was the lowest increase the agency has recorded in the past five years.

Over the last six months the average weekly rent went up by just 0.53%, and that made for an increase of less than $4 for tenants, the figures showed.

The change in pace marked a stark contrast to the 5.69% increase recorded in the first quarter of 2024, which was the highest since 2015.

A higher than usual supply of rental properties means wider choice for tenants, Barfoot & Thompson’s Anil Anna says.

Barfoot & Thompson general manager of property management Anil Anna said more properties available to rent and lower levels of renter activity were the driving forces behind the slower pricing trend.

Property managers across the agency’s branches were reporting increased supply due to a number of factors, he said.

They included more tenants choosing to move out of Auckland and fewer migrants looking for a home in the city.

But there had also been a small surge in first home buyers moving from rentals to their own properties, and significant numbers of new rental properties, particularly townhouses, coming on to the market.

“This higher than usual supply of rental properties means wider choice for prospective tenants and more competition with other listings for landlords,” he said.

“At the same time, we are seeing more subdued interest from potential tenants overall, with enquiries down around 20% on last year’s peak.

“Many people are ‘hunkering down’ over winter and biding their time in making any big financial commitments, such as moving, given the broader economic pressures faced by many households.”

The average weekly rent across the Auckland region was $693 in June, Barfoot & Thompson says.

It meant the region experienced a shift towards “renters’ market” conditions during the first half of 2025, he said.

Rent increases across the region ranged from 0.78% in Pakuranga/Howick, which took the area’s weekly average to $752, up to 2.83% in South Auckland where there was a weekly average of $639.

East Auckland and Pakuranga/Howick had the most expensive rents in the region, with a weekly average of $752.

But one area recorded a decrease in rents. That was central Auckland where rents dropped by 0.48% to $584 a week.

Anna said the central city’s apartment market’s negative price growth followed a period of intense activity in late 2023 and early 2024.

“There is a market correction at play here after this area out-performed the region-wide average during the past year.”

By property type, property managers reported stronger interest in stand alone homes, over multi-unit and terraced homes, he added.

The average weekly rent in Wellington, and nationwide have also declined in recent months, Trade Me figure show.

The average weekly rent for a typical three-bedroom home, which make up the bulk of the rental stock, was $696, an annual increase of 2.29%, the figures showed.

Auckland’s subdued rental market was also evident in recent rental data from Realestate.co.nz and Trade Me Property.

Realestate.co.nz’s latest data, out last week, had weekly rents in Auckland down 2.7% annually to $698 a week, and new rental listings up 6.1% to 2668 in June.

Trade Me’s most recent data had Auckland rents down 2.2% annually to $675 in May, with the most significant change recorded for larger properties.

But it is not just the Auckland market where rents have been falling.

Realestate.co.nz’s figures showed the average national rental price was down 2.7% annually to $636 in June, while Trade Me’s had the national median weekly rent holding steady on $630 after two months of declines.

And economist Tony Alexander’s latest survey of landlords revealed a record net 40% of them were finding it difficult to get a good tenant. Fourteen months ago a net 25% said it was easy,

A reflection of the shortage of tenants was that the proportion of landlords planning to raise their rents in the next year had fallen to a record low of 44% in the latest survey, Alexander said. In early 2024 the proportion was 82%.

“Market conditions have changed substantially, and the combination of rapidly slowing population growth and high levels of new house supply has helped produce this strong challenge for landlords.”