Where Rents Rose Fastest, 2013 to 2023
Ten years sit between the 2013 and 2023 Censuses, and in that decade the median weekly rent across the 2,075 areas ranked here moved by a midpoint of 54 per cent. Around that midpoint the spread is enormous, and the spread is the story: the fastest area repriced by 260 per cent while the slowest moved -34 per cent. Where your area sits in that spread is on this page, and every row links to the area's own figures.
What these numbers are: medians of what renting households actually pay, from the Census, so they lag asking rents and measure where residents' costs genuinely moved rather than where listings are hot this month. Areas with no published 2013 median are excluded rather than counted as zero, and areas whose 2013 base was under $150 are excluded because percentages on tiny bases manufacture drama (135 area(s) excluded on those two rules, of 2,210 published).
The 25 fastest
| # | Area | Region | 2013 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porirua Central | Wellington | $200 | $720 | +260% |
| 2 | Māngere North | Auckland | $150 | $486 | +224% |
| 3 | Baypark-Kairua | Bay of Plenty | $170 | $550 | +224% |
| 4 | Springvale North | Manawatū-Whanganui | $150 | $480 | +220% |
| 5 | Hobsonville Point Park | Auckland | $212 | $650 | +207% |
| 6 | Trentham South | Wellington | $206 | $630 | +206% |
| 7 | Hobsonville Scott Point | Auckland | $300 | $830 | +177% |
| 8 | Northcote Central (Auckland) | Auckland | $200 | $530 | +165% |
| 9 | Ōmokoroa South | Bay of Plenty | $250 | $640 | +156% |
| 10 | Wairakei West | Bay of Plenty | $250 | $635 | +154% |
| 11 | Strathmore (South Waikato District) | Waikato | $160 | $400 | +150% |
| 12 | Burleigh | Marlborough | $204 | $500 | +145% |
| 13 | Pōkeno South | Waikato | $284 | $674 | +137% |
| 14 | Lincoln North | Canterbury | $260 | $610 | +135% |
| 15 | Pukerimu | Waikato | $150 | $350 | +133% |
| 16 | Stanley Park | Waikato | $150 | $348 | +132% |
| 17 | Saddle Hill-Chain Hills | Otago | $220 | $510 | +132% |
| 18 | Long Bay | Auckland | $400 | $925 | +131% |
| 19 | Horotiu | Waikato | $230 | $526 | +129% |
| 20 | Millwater South | Auckland | $350 | $800 | +129% |
| 21 | Pyes Pa West | Bay of Plenty | $295 | $650 | +120% |
| 22 | Tokoroa Central | Waikato | $150 | $330 | +120% |
| 23 | Richmond South (Tasman District) | Tasman | $250 | $550 | +120% |
| 24 | Waimate North | Canterbury | $160 | $350 | +119% |
| 25 | Lake Hayes | Otago | $230 | $500 | +117% |
And the 10 slowest
The other end of the same decade. A slow decade for rents is not automatically good news for the area: it can mean affordability holding, or demand leaving.
| Area | Region | 2013 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westland Glaciers-Bruce Bay | West Coast | $170 | $160 | -6% |
| Aranui | Canterbury | $194 | $180 | -7% |
| Kaiapoi East | Canterbury | $160 | $145 | -9% |
| Broomfield | Canterbury | $205 | $178 | -13% |
| Avonside | Canterbury | $182 | $158 | -13% |
| Harania South | Auckland | $250 | $201 | -20% |
| Rangiora North West | Canterbury | $415 | $320 | -23% |
| Whitestone | Southland | $200 | $143 | -29% |
| Earnscleugh | Otago | $220 | $150 | -32% |
| Panmure West | Auckland | $300 | $198 | -34% |
Reading the league without misreading it
Fast rent growth over a decade usually means one of three stories, and the area page tells you which. Catch-up: a cheap area repricing toward its neighbours, visible when the 2023 level is still at or below the region's median. Transformation: new builds and a changing tenant mix, visible in the area's household counts moving alongside. Squeeze: demand outgrowing a fixed stock, the version tenants feel, visible when the level has passed the neighbours and the catchment is still growing.
For a tenant, this league plus your area's page is negotiation data: what the median is, what the neighbours pay, and whether the area has been repricing. For a landlord, the same numbers are the honest answer to what the area supports, which is where the landlord pathway starts. For anyone choosing where to live, the rent guide turns these figures into a decision.
Related pages
- Housing costs by area: every area's level, history and neighbours.
- How much rent should I pay?: using the medians on a real listing.
- Rent Affordability Calculator: the budget side.
- How to read Census housing data: what these medians can and cannot say.