New Zealand rents, January–March 2026

How rents sat and moved across New Zealand in January–March 2026 — computed from that quarter's official rental-bond release.

The national picture

$600national median /wk

The national median held roughly steady over the year.

Across the 683 suburbs with enough lodged bonds to rank, the published median rent for all rentals rose in 246, held roughly steady in 182 and eased in 255 over the year to January–March 2026. Palmerston North Central climbed hardest (+61%); Sunshine Bay-Fernhill moved furthest the other way (-36.1%).

over the year

Biggest risers

  1. Palmerston North Central+61%
  2. Frankton+33.8%
  3. Ellerslie West+33.3%
  4. Saint Heliers South+31.6%
  5. Pinehill+30.9%

over the year

Biggest falls

  1. Sunshine Bay-Fernhill-36.1%
  2. Grey Lynn North-31.8%
  3. Northcote Tuff Crater-29%
  4. Mount Albert West-29%
  5. Three Kings East-26.7%

median /wk

Dearest suburbs

  1. Saint Heliers North$1,025/wk
  2. Remuera North$1,000/wk
  3. Remuera Waitaramoa$993/wk
  4. Parnell East$983/wk
  5. Remuera South$983/wk

median /wk

Cheapest suburbs

  1. Mairehau North$235/wk
  2. Awatea North$245/wk
  3. Te Puke West$276/wk
  4. Epsom North$290/wk
  5. Grafton$295/wk

bonds lodged

Busiest markets

  1. Auckland-University648 bonds
  2. Gardens (Dunedin City)534 bonds
  3. Dixon Street318 bonds
  4. Greensboro294 bonds
  5. Symonds Street North West288 bonds

Figures are each suburb's published all-rentals median as at January–March 2026, from MBIE's detailed quarterly rental-bond data (SA2-2019 areas). Suburbs with fewer than 20 lodged bonds that quarter are set aside from the ranking (912 this quarter). Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 3.0 NZ): "New Zealand's median weekly rent was $600 in January–March 2026, from MBIE rental bond data via RentTrends (https://renttrends.co.nz/reports/2026-q1)." · download the ranked data (CSV).