Searches per listing jump 20% as rental supply tightens nationwide
Competition for New Zealand rentals is heating up, with tenant searches per listing up 20% year on year as fewer properties come onto the market, according to Trade Me Property’s latest Rental Price Index.
The national median weekly rent was $620 in September, unchanged from the same month in 2025. That makes four months in a row without an annual decline, following nine straight months of falls between September 2025 and May 2026. Rents have stayed within a narrow $610–$625 band for more than a year, and excluding Auckland, the median rose 0.8%.
Tenants compete for fewer homes
New rental listings on Trade Me Property fell close to 5% year on year in September, and total inventory dropped 7%. Over the same period, tenant searches and listing views rose between 6% and 12%.
“Tenants are out searching in force, but they’re competing for a smaller pool of properties,” said Trade Me Property spokesperson Casey Wylde (pictured).
Wylde said search activity has risen year on year every month since January.
“If supply stays tight, that sustained demand will likely put upward pressure on rents coming into summer,” she said.
Official data confirms the turn
The shift shows up in official figures too. Stats NZ’s measure of rents for new tenancies rose 0.9% in the year to September, reversing a 0.9% fall the year before, although the two series use different data and are not directly comparable.
ANZ senior economist Matthew Galt also expects rents to rise over the next year as the economy improves slightly. For property investors, that would improve rental yields after a year of flat or falling rents.
Auckland steadies as regions climb
Auckland’s median rent held at $660 for a second consecutive month, after a year of annual declines. Wylde described the city’s stabilisation as “a milestone for the broader market”, given it had been the main drag on national figures for much of the past 12 months.
Elsewhere, 10 of the 14 regions recorded annual increases. Northland and Waikato both rose 3% to $600, while Southland and Marlborough each climbed 4%, to $500 and $580 respectively. Hawke’s Bay was the weakest, falling 3% to $600, and Bay of Plenty slipped 2% to $640.
Large homes in Christchurch are now renting for more than their Auckland equivalents. The median weekly rent for a home with five or more bedrooms reached $1,110 in Christchurch, $110 more than in Auckland and $190 more than in Wellington.
“It’s a striking sign of demand for larger family homes in Christchurch,” Wylde said, noting that Canterbury reached a record median rent of $600 in August.
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