Tenant enquiries jump 25% but supply keeps a lid on pricing
Average weekly rent across Barfoot & Thompson’s Auckland portfolio barely moved in September, even though tenant activity reached a six-month high, according to the agency’s latest monthly rental update.
The average edged up just 40 cents from August to $699.40, which is 0.9% higher than a year earlier. Barfoot & Thompson manages more than 22,000 homes across Auckland, Northland and the Bay of Plenty.
Listings available at the end of the month fell 4.2% from August and 10.1% from a year earlier. Even so, Anil Anna (pictured), the agency’s general manager of property management, said there was still “enough rental supply to dampen any upward pressure on pricing”.
Nationally, the picture is starting to shift. New Zealand’s median weekly rent rose to $625 in August 2026, the first annual increase in 18 months, according to Trade Me’s Rental Price Index. New rental listings nationally fell 4% year on year in August.
Renters on the move
Demand picked up sharply after a weak August. Barfoot let 719 properties, its highest monthly total this year, just ahead of 716 in March. Anna said property managers hosted “a record-setting 6,068 property viewings”, up 26.2% on August and the most in any month for at least five years. Enquiries and applications each grew by about 25% on August, to 27,796 and 3,533 respectively, although both remained below their early-2026 levels.
According to Anna, feedback from property managers suggests much of the increase came from tenants moving from one rental to another. He said many were looking for “a new home that better suits their needs ahead of the summer break”.
Rent growth uneven across regions
Within Auckland, rents gained most in Rodney and on the North Shore, up 1.7% and 1.6% respectively, while West Auckland recorded a 0.6% fall. In Northland, the average lifted 0.2% over the month and 1.75% over the year, to $585.31. The Bay of Plenty showed firmer growth: in Cherrywood, three-bedroom homes averaged $657.20 a week, 3.7% higher than in September 2025.
Barfoot & Thompson is advising landlords to set competitive rents and to allow six to seven weeks to secure a new tenant.
That caution contrasts with what investors expect. Landlords surveyed for The Property Consortium’s September 2026 Investor Insights plan to lift rents by an average of 4.1% over the coming year, a 13-month high. However, with a net 30% still finding it difficult to secure a suitable tenant, independent economist Tony Alexander said: “Actual rent rises may therefore not be as achievable as some investors are thinking.”
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