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Life should be getting easier for tenants - but some still suffer

house_smallrent.jpgAiesha Cunningham has been looking for a rental property for more than a year, without any luck.

The mother-of-two is a full-time student and wants to find a home near her kids' school in Manurewa. They are living at her partner's mother's house in the meantime but anxious to find their own home. "Where we are there's five adults and three kids in a four bedroom house, it can get a bit much sometimes."

What's it like to be a renter?

She said a bad credit history was making it very tough to get a house, as was having appeared before the Tenancy Tribunal in the past. "There are heaps of houses but the rent is ridiculously high... If I'm lucky enough to get a viewing with the landlord, they always go with someone else."

But Trade Me Property data shows that while Cunningham is finding it tough, things may be improving for tenants around the country.

Median weekly rents rose just $10 across New Zealand in July to $440, according to the latest Trade Me Property Rental Index.

Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said it was a "very modest" 4.8 per cent increase on a year ago. "In Auckland this growth has been even lower, at just 3 per cent. Rents in the Super City have risen just $15 in the last year to $510 a week and didn't budge between June and July."

He said there was "a stark contrast" between the residential for sale market and the state of the rental market. "Over the past two years we've seen the national average asking price across leap more than $100,000, while the median rent has gone up just $45 from $395 to $440 per week. In Auckland, it is even more pronounced with average asking prices up more than $200,000 since July 2014, alongside median rent that has only ticked up just $50 per week over the same period."

All the regions except Taranaki (no change), the West Coast (down 4.2 per cent) and Canterbury (down 7.1 per cent) reported median weekly rent increases compared to July last year. The "halo" regions around Auckland all increased significantly with Waikato up 8.8 per cent and the only region to set a record rent across all property types, Bay of Plenty up 13.9 per cent and Northland up 11.1 per cent.

Marlborough reported a strong rise in median weekly rents across 2016 and has reached $330, up 24 per cent on a year ago. Wellington's median rent for houses was up from $400 to $420, a new record high.

Jeffries said Wellington was usually a seasonal market with strong rent rises in the final quarter of the calendar year, preceded by some easing in winter. "It's unusual for rents to rise in July and comes off the back of pretty limited rental property availability in the capital."

Jeffries said the number of rental properties in Canterbury had continued to grow, particularly in Christchurch, and strong supply meant it was a tenant's market, with median asking rents falling for the 15th consecutive month, down from a peak of $495 per week to $400.

"Now that Christchurch has a stable supply of available rental properties we're seeing much more realistic rents," he said. "It's been solid at $400 per week for the last three months and we don't see this changing significantly any time soon."

Cunningham said she would keep trying to find a house. "It's very frustrating - you're trying your best to find a home for your family but no one will give you a chance."
Real Estate Investar Editor
Real Estate Investar Editor
Real Estate Investar provides intelligent software, tools and data to help you save time and make money in the residential property investment market.

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