Rents drop across the capital to 3-year low

Thursday, 19 June 2025

If you are looking for a new rental in Wellington you could be paying up to $25 less as average weekly rents drop.

Rental prices across Wellington are at the lowest they have been in nearly three years.

Trade Me Property’s rental price index showed the rental price across the region had fallen 3.9% - about $25 a week - to an average $620 a week in May.

And it’s down for the year as well, falling 4.6%.

Trade Me Property’s Casey Wylde said the drop was certainly good news for those looking for a rental, but those on fixed-term tenancies were unlikely to benefit from current market dynamics unless their lease is up to be renewed.

Demand in the capital was climbing, up 10% in May on a month earlier, which Wylde said outpaced supply which had grown 6% month on month.

But compared with a year earlier, the number of listings on the site was up a significant 41% while demand was still down 13%.

“With more options on the market, it comes as no surprise that rents have cooled in the capital.”

Rents were also falling in Marlborough by 4.2% and Hawke’s Bay by 3% in the last month.

Trade Me Property spokesperson Casey Wylde said demand for rentals in Wellington was up 10% on April, but down 13% on a year earlier.

The national median weekly rent held steady in April after declines in the two months before, now at $630.

But the bottom of the South Island was going up - with the median weekly rent in Southland up 3.1% to $495 and the West Coast hitting a record weekly rent of $450. Even, so it was still the cheapest place to rent in the country.

Gisborne held the top spot with $680 a week on average.

Wylde said with a smaller number of properties to rent in those regions, movement on the weekly rent could fluctuate more than where there is a greater supply.

The property types coming up for rent also tend to be larger which naturally command higher rents,” she said.

Increases were also recorded in Otago up 4.2% and Bay of Plenty by 1.5%.

Wellington also had the largest overall drop in rents for 3-4 bedroom homes - down 6.7% to $700 and smaller places, one or two bedrooms down 4.3% to $550.

Auckland meanwhile recorded an overall drop of 2.2% with the most significant change recorded for larger properties. Homes with five or more bedrooms fell 9.1% in May to $1,000 a week. Christchurch also recorded an overall drop of 1.8%