Enquiries and applications lift as landlords urged to stay realistic on price
Auckland's rental market held firm through July, with Barfoot & Thompson reporting a broad-based lift in renter activity even as year-on-year comparisons remained softer against an unusually strong July last year.
Enquiries, viewings, and applications all climbed through winter
Rental enquiries rose 10.5% in July compared with June, with more than 26,000 queries logged across the agency's portfolio of over 22,000 homes spanning Auckland, Northland, and Bay of Plenty.
Viewings lifted 8.5% to more than 5,300, drawing an 11.8% increase in attendance, while applications climbed 11.5% on June. That translated into 650 properties let during the month, up 8.7% on June's total.
Barfoot & Thompson general manager of property management Anil Anna (pictured) said the breadth of the activity stood out.
"There was strong activity at every stage of the rental process during July, with more people searching, viewing, applying for and moving into homes," Anna said. "This is a particularly solid level of renter engagement for the middle of winter and a clear lift from the quieter conditions seen in June."
Annual comparisons remain softer, but Anna says context matters
Measured against July last year, the picture was more mixed: enquiries were down 2.2% and properties rented fell 3.8%, though viewing attendance held steady and applications rose 10% year-on-year.
Anna said the comparison needed context, given how strong the market was in July 2025.
"Those modest year-on-year declines need to be considered against the particularly high levels of activity recorded in July 2025, which was a stand-out month for the rental market, seeing the highest level of enquiries and the highest number of properties rented during the year," he said.
"Against that backdrop, activity this July held relatively close to last year's levels, while applications were well ahead. This points to the market maintaining some strength while finding a more balanced and consistent pattern."
Stock stays steady as renters favour family-sized homes
The agency ended July with 777 properties available for rent, broadly unchanged from 772 at the end of June but 3.2% fewer than a year earlier.
Anna said steady stock levels were keeping choice available for renters while sharpening expectations for landlords.
"Available stock remained steady even as more properties were rented, continuing to provide choice for renters while reinforcing the need for landlords to be realistic about price and presentation," he said.
The average weekly rent across the Auckland portfolio rose to $699.03, up 86 cents on June and 0.9% on the same time last year.
Anna said demand remained strongest for well-presented, stand-alone family homes, while smaller terraced properties and some high-end homes were proving slower to attract interest.
The rental data lands alongside Barfoot & Thompson's own July sales figures, which showed Auckland's housing market holding steady through winter — 845 sales and a median price of $945,000 — even as the RBNZ's first OCR hike in three years and inflation at a two-year high of 4.1% cloud the outlook heading into spring.
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