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Quarterly Rental Report

Auckland’s Quarterly Rental Update: Central city apartment market rebounds

Weekly rents for apartments in Auckland’s central city are on the up for the first time in years according to the latest quarterly data from Auckland real estate and property management agency Barfoot & Thompson.

Figures for the end March quarter show the average weekly rent for Auckland Central – made up almost entirely by apartments – rose by 3.46 percent over the same period last year, to $529.06 per week.

Previously, this segment of the city’s rental market had experienced declines in 2020 and 2021, and remained relatively static through 2022, as it suffered the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 border closures and lockdowns.

This is the first quarter in several years that we’ve seen growth in the average weekly rent for Central Auckland over 1 percent.

March’s average weekly rent is also the highest recorded for this area, exceeding the previous peak of $527.12 set in September 2019.

While it’s been a lengthy plateau for the central city apartment market, the recovery has been building since late last year, when property managers began to see an increase in demand coinciding with shortening supply. When Covid lockdowns, border closures and trends towards working and learning from home took hold, demand dropped off dramatically for central city properties.

Now, with the borders open and domestic and international students, city workers and tourists returning to the CBD, there is higher pressure on supply and prices than we’ve seen for some time.

Rest of Auckland keeps usual pace despite increased demand

Tenancy demand is also increasing across the rest of Auckland, however price growth has so far remained within the expected trend, rising approximately 3 percent year-on-year.

At end March, the average weekly rent across all of Auckland was $634.79, up 3.24 percent or $19.93 more than a year ago.

In addition to what is happening in and around the city centre, the next biggest demand for rental homes in the wider region has come from incoming migrants on working visas, and people who have been forced out of their homes due to recent weather events. As a result, enquiries for properties to let during this period were up by around 30 percent on what we would receive during a more typical quarter. For tenants, we know looking for a home at such a busy time can be stressful, and we encourage people to make use of all the online tools we have available to help streamline the process of applying for properties.

And to property owners – there is lots of demand and need in the market at the moment, so, if you have a property to let please get in touch as we have many wonderful tenants ready and waiting.