Source: RealEstate.co.nz
- Rental stock up 17.4% compared to November 2024
- Record number of new listings hit rental market – 7,253 properties
- West Coast average rental price hits $500/week bracket for the first time.
Latest data from realestate.co.nz shows New Zealand’s rental market is awash with properties with a record 7,253 new rental listings hitting the market in November 2025, a 12.4% increase on the same time last year. Total rental stock – 8,801 properties – has also increased by 17.4% year-on-year.
Sarah Wood, CEO of realestate.co.nz, says this significant lift in rental stock is likely a result of mixed factors, landlords opting to re-let their properties as opposed to sell them, and the high number of Kiwis leaving New Zealand for Australia.
“We know New Zealand’s net migration loss to Australia has reached a 12-year high, and the majority of those moving have been in the prime tenant demographic – 20-39-year-olds. While this surge in supply of rental properties presents clear opportunities for renters remaining in New Zealand, it’s also creating a market that landlords and investors will need to navigate carefully.”
Record number of rentals available in the regions
The plethora of rental properties could also be found in regional pockets with new rental listings at record highs in Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu/Whanganui, Waikato, and Wairarapa.
- Hawke’s Bay climbed 176% year-on-year to 127 listings
- Manawatu/Wanganui had a 32.5% increase in new listings with 363 properties
- Waikato’s supply of rental listings increased 12.3% to 783 properties
- Wairarapa recorded a 52.7% increase in new listings in November to 84 properties.
Wood says: “To see all-time highs in new rental listings across four regional markets during the same month is significant.”
Rental rates continue to fall, but West Coast bucks the trend
In November, the national average rental asking price reduced slightly by 3.1% to $626/week, compared to $646/week at the same time last year. However, some regions bucked the trend.
The West Coast recorded an average weekly rental rate in the $500/week bracket for the first time, with the region’s average rent at $518/week in November 2025, an 8.4% increase year-on-year. Southland also recorded an 8.5% increase, with the average rent in the region now $483/week.
“These increases suggest strong local demand and they’re a reminder that not all rental markets move in sync,” says Wood. “Seeing the West Coast cross the $500 mark for the first time is a notable milestone, especially in a market where the national average has declined.”
Defining moment for New Zealand’s rental market
Wood says November’s numbers confirm the market continues to sway in tenants’ favour. “With more rental properties on the market than ever before, alongside policy settings including changes to pet rules coming into effect this week, the dynamic between landlords and tenants is changing. It’s a rental market reset and everyone in the sector will need to adapt.”
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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.
