- National average weekly rent drops 2.4% to $626 per week
- Number of new rental listings climbs almost 20% year-on-year to over 5,000 properties
- Wellington has 91.5% increase in stock with 925 available rental properties.
Central Otago Lakes District is the most expensive place to rent in New Zealand, by more than $200, reveals the latest data from realestate.co.nz.
The region’s average rental price hit an all-time high of $891 per week in December 2025, 11.8% more than in December 2024, making the region over $200 more expensive to rent than anywhere else in the country, including Auckland. The national average rental price in December 2025 was $626/week.
Central North Island recorded the next highest increase in average weekly rental prices, up 6.2% year-on-year to $597.
However, renters elsewhere around the country had something of a reprieve. The national average rental price fell 2.4% year-on-year to $626 in December 2025. Regionally, 13 of the 19 regions saw average asking prices decline compared to December 2024, with rents dropping the most in:
- Coromandel, down 41.0% to $539/week
- Wellington, down 8.4% to $663/week
- Hawke’s Bay, down 7.5% to $614/week.
Vanessa Williams, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz says, New Zealand’s rental landscape is starting to show a clearer split between premium lifestyle markets and the rest of the country.
“Central Otago/Lakes District continues to sit in a league of its own, driven by strong demand and a limited pool of rentals which is pushing prices to record highs. We’ve seen this week that first-home buyers made up 19% of all property purchases in Queenstown last year. When weekly rental prices start closing in on mortgage repayments, it’s no surprise that renters are making the leap into home ownership and our data shows that shift is well underway.”
Is there respite for renters in 2026?
The rental market continues to be awash with properties with the number of new rental listings increasing 19.8% in December 2025 to 5,349, compared to 4,464 in December 2024.
Wairarapa saw the biggest increase year-on-year, with new listings up 142.9% to 51. Nelson & Bays followed with new listings up 92.6% to 52 and Hawke’s Bay, up 88.5% with 98 new listings in December 2025, compared to December 2024.
Williams says the lift in new rental listings gives renters more choice and potentially more negotiating power in the year ahead.
“A nearly 20 percent increase in new listings certainly provides more choice for renters, and in some regions, like Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay, that choice has doubled. With stock building and competition among landlords rising, renters will continue to find themselves in a stronger position to negotiate on price or lease terms in 2026.”
Strong stock levels give renters breathing room
Stock levels have increased significantly in parts of the motu as well. Total stock (7,577) was 15.9% more than in December 2024. Hawke’s Bay recorded a 151.2% increase in stock in December 2025 with 108 properties available for rent.
Wellington’s stock levels are also up, with a 91.5% year-on-year increase to 925 properties. Wairarapa, Nelson & Bays, and Gisborne all reported year-on-year increases over 80%, with 82.9% (75 properties), 88.5% (49 properties), and 82.8% (53 properties) respectively.
Williams says the data shows the country is entering 2026 with a rental market that looks very different depending on where you live.
“The continual abundance of rental stock is giving renters breathing room but places like Central Otago/Lakes District remind us that lifestyle markets operate differently. The big question for 2026 is whether the rental supply nationally translates into lasting affordability or whether the regional rental divide grows.”
About realestate.co.nz | New Zealand’s Best Small Workplace (2025)
We’ve been helping people buy, sell, or rent property since 1996.
Established before Google, realestate.co.nz is New Zealand’s longest-standing property website and the official website of the real estate industry. In 2025, realestate.co.nz was crowned Best Small/Micro Workplace in New Zealand by Great Place to Work.
Dedicated only to property, our mission is to empower people with a property search tool they can use to find the life they want to live. With residential, lifestyle, rural and commercial property listings, realestate.co.nz is the place to start for those looking to buy or sell property.
Whatever life you’re searching for, it all starts here.
Want more property insights?
Market insights: Search by suburb to see median sale prices, popular property types and trends over time.
Sold properties: Switch your search to sold to see the latest sale prices and an estimated value in the current market.
Glossary of terms:
The average weekly rental rate is an indication of current market sentiment. It is calculated by taking the asking rental rate of every residential property listed during that month and dividing it by the total number of rental properties. The average is a truncated mean.
New listings are a record of all the new residential dwellings listed for rent on realestate.co.nz for the relevant calendar month. Listings on the site include rental properties listed by Property Managers and private landlords and provide a representative view of the New Zealand rental property market.
Stock is the total number of residential dwellings that are for rent on realestate.co.nz on the penultimate day of the month.