New data shows rental prices are continuing to soar, with Auckland now the most expensive region in the country as Kiwis continue to battle the cost of living crisis.
Trade Me's Rental Price Index for May shows New Zealand's median weekly rental prices claimed another record high for 2023.
The latest figures show the median weekly rent rose to hit $610 for May, which comes three months after reaching $600 for the first time.
This means tenants are paying an extra $35 a week or $1820 more a year in 2022, according to Trade Me's director of property sales Gavin Lloyd.
"It appears that after the large pay increases we saw throughout 2022, landlords are still feeling confident to ask for more. But we expect rents to taper off later in the year as landlords respond to stalling wages and tenants' lack of disposable income. Until then, renters' wallets will feel the pain," Lloyd said.
"We're also seeing the market impacted by changes to Government tax policies, and higher interest rates."
Kiwis in the regions are also feeling the pinch of rent rises, with Taranaki and Queenstown some of the hardest hit areas.
The Taranaki region had the highest year-on-year median weekly rent rise, increasing by $80 from May 2022 to $620.
The area's median weekly rental price had been steadily rising since November, Lloyd said.
"That's an extra $4160 a year people in Taranaki are paying in rent compared to last May," he said.
The Queenstown-Lakes district, which had a relatively small number of listings, saw a big rise in the median weekly rent.
The median weekly rent increased by $150 since May 2022 to $750. The last time the Queenstown-Lakes District had median weekly rental prices this high was in February 2020, when COVID-19 was starting to make waves globally.
"Being a tourist mecca, Queenstown-Lakes has been at the mercy of the pandemic. Prices in the district fell away substantially while the borders were closed and the number of people visiting and living there plummeted," Lloyd said.
"However, as tourism ramps back up in Queenstown-Lakes, rental prices for the district are rising again."
At the top of the North Island, the wild weather that has lashed Auckland throughout 2023 has impacted prices.
Auckland claimed the title for the region with the highest median weekly rental price after it rose by $60 per week to $660 in May.
Supply of rental properties in the Auckland region saw a 35 percent drop from last year, while demand was up 55 percent year-on-year, according to Lloyd.
"After the widespread damage caused by the flooding earlier this year, we expected that prices would rise as the region battled with supply issues," Lloyd said.
Auckland's urban properties - apartments, townhouses and units - all hit record median weekly rental prices in May.
Apartments are sitting at $570 per week, units are $530, and townhouses are $700.
"This is what typically happens - when properties get more expensive, people look to cheaper places they can live in, and that's usually smaller places like the urban properties," Lloyd said.
The squeeze on rental properties
The supply or the number of properties available to rent in May around the country was down 19 percent from May 2022, while demand was up 35 percent.
"There was a general lack of supply of rental properties in most places and there were a number of factors driving this," Lloyd said.
"During COVID, with the collapse of tourism and migration, we saw people pull their short-term rentals, and place those properties into the long-term rental market. What's playing out now is the reversal of that. People are moving their properties back into the tourism market where they can make money with fewer obligations on them."
But it wasn't all bad news, with three areas bucking the trend and not suffering from a lack of supply.
Northland had a massive 45 percent increase in the number of listings on site from May 2022, the Manawatū/Whanganui spiked up 44 percent and the Nelson/Tasman region rose 20 percent.
