Rents in Christchurch have sky-rocketed 26 percent in the past year while
nationally rents are up just 4 percent, according to Trade Me Property's
analysis for the three months ended June compared with the same quarter last
year.
At the same time, listings of houses for rent in Christchurch are down 34 percent, even as demand jumped 47 percent. Nationally, listings are up 4 per cent
while demand is steady.
"The news for prospective Christchurch tenants is still grim," said Brendon
Skipper, head of Trade Me Property.
The "pressure cooker" suburbs in Christchurch are the central city, Linwood
and St Albans.
"We've seen the number of properties available for rent in these three
suburbs plummet more than 40 percent on a year ago and, on the flipside, the
properties that do get listed are attracting huge volumes of enquiry," Mr
Skipper said.
While shortages of houses to rent in the Auckland have prompted media
coverage, Trade Me found listings in the city are up 20 percent and demand is
down 18 percent.
"The winter hibernation period sees tenants hunker down so we often see
listing numbers swell and demand taper off," Mr Skipper said.
Still, the increase in listings and reduced demand in central Auckland hasn't
led to lower rents, he said. Average rents in Auckland city are flat, while
Manukau's and Waitakere's are up 4 per cent and North Shore's are up 5 percent.
One reason demand has softened in Auckland is that tenants are looking to
become home owners, he said.
NZN