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 705 suburbs with enough lodged bonds to rank, the published median rent for all rentals rose in 249, held roughly steady in 194 and eased in 262 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. Ellerslie West+34%
  3. Frankton+33.8%
  4. Saint Heliers South+31.6%
  5. Pinehill+29.4%

over the year

Biggest falls

  1. Sunshine Bay-Fernhill-36.1%
  2. Grey Lynn North-30.3%
  3. Papaioea North-30%
  4. Andersons Bay-27.8%
  5. Three Kings East-26.7%

median /wk

Dearest suburbs

  1. Remuera North$1,000/wk
  2. Parnell East$993/wk
  3. Remuera South$983/wk
  4. Westmere South-Western Springs$960/wk
  5. Gardens (Dunedin City)$950/wk

median /wk

Cheapest suburbs

  1. Middleton$200/wk
  2. Mairehau North$235/wk
  3. Awatea North$245/wk
  4. Papaioea North$280/wk
  5. Grafton$295/wk

bonds lodged

Busiest markets

  1. Auckland-University654 bonds
  2. Gardens (Dunedin City)546 bonds
  3. Dixon Street324 bonds
  4. Greensboro297 bonds
  5. Symonds Street North West297 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 (917 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).