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Wondering if your rent is on the rise because you swear it wasn’t this much last year? Well, you’d be bang on. In August, Kiwis were forking out an extra 6.7 percent on the median weekly rent compared to just a year ago, Stuff reports. But if it’s any consolation, weekly rent across the whole country has reached a record high. It’s not just you getting ripped off.Every single region saw an annual increase this August, with three regions breaking records.The country’s average rent is now peaking at $480 a week. In the space of one year, weekly rents in Hawke's Bay jumped 13.9 percent to $410, and rose 7.8 percent in Waikato to $415.There is growing demand for rentals but also a depleting number of them available. Aaron Clancy, Trade Me’s head of rentals, said the company had seen a three-percent drop in rental properties year-on-year across New Zealand. "Wellington's most popular rental in August was a two-bedroom townhouse in Crofton Downs which had 51 enquiries in its first two days onsite," he said.Weekly rent in the capital has leaped 8.9 percent to $490. Otago saw a 9.8 percent increase to $450, and in Auckland weekly rent went up 3.8 percent to $550.And it doesn’t look like 2019 will bring any improvement. Trade Me suspects rents are “going to jump to new heights in the New Year"."In August we typically see rents slow right down as we hit the seasonal winter slump, but this year the provincial rental market has bucked that trend, indicating that we're headed for record rents this summer," Clancy said.
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