Wellington’s rental market is expected to recover in 2026, with the city entering its busiest flat-hunting period and demand showing strong signs of growth. Reported by Sophie Trigger, from 1News.
The capital experienced an unusual year in 2025, with median rents falling from $650 to $595 in the 12 months to last November. By comparison, rents remained stable in Auckland and rose slightly in Christchurch.
“Throughout 2025, there were multiple stories correctly reporting that the Wellington rental market was very, very tough – not tough for tenants, tough for owners,” said Lowe & Co salesperson and property investor Adam Cockburn.
“But that was a story of 2025, and the story now so far at least in early January 2026 is that of a recovering rental market."
Cockburn said a key factor driving the turnaround was the return of students to Wellington’s private rental market, following a post-Covid decline.
“We're seeing a big increase in students coming out of the halls back into the private rental market again for the first time in about five years."
Trade Me data from last month showed demand for Wellington rentals was up 16% year-on-year, while listings rose by just 1%. Nationwide, rental listings increased by 4%, with demand up by 8%.
‘Stressful and intense’
Students Lilly Malcolm and Trinity Mann said competition has noticeably increased during their recent flat search in Wellington, which took two months.
Mann described the experience as "stressful and intense".
"I was so on edge all the time because it was just, the feeling of like, 'oh my gosh, there's so much we have to do'," she said.
"I have to go to work at this time and I have, like, four flat viewings before that.
"And then also having to, like, make Plan Bs and stuff like that."
Malcolm said she and her flatmates secured the first property they viewed last year, but this time they attended around 15 viewings.
“Last week actually, we said, 'look, if we don't have anything by the end of this week, we need to start thinking about like who we can stay with, if we need to go home'.”
Flat hunting ‘a mixed bag’
Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association president Aidan Donoghue said recent flat-hunting experiences for students had been “a mixed bag”.
"It's roughly about the same prices when looking or upgrading the spaces from to bigger sizes but, in the same vein, they're also having a still cast of widening it just to see their responses from landlords."
He said incentives offered to students rarely involved rent reductions.
“Usually, those will be in the forms of either damage forgiveness or within some more odd things like gift cards or other sorts of incentives.
"Myself for example, I was offered, in exchange for staying on for a further 12 months tenancy, was some damage forgiveness for a cracked stove top."
Advice for landlords and renters
Cockburn advised landlords to price rentals realistically.
"There's no point trying to hold out for a market, for a rent that the market won't bear. Your property will sit empty.
"It's better to take a 5, 10, 20% [or] even bigger discount if necessary to get the property rented."
He also cautioned renters to consider future rent increases when choosing a property.
"I would not be going into a property that was typically out of my reach financially ... because, in the next 12 months, the rent's going to recover and [if] it becomes out of reach, then you just have to move again.
"I would go for the property that suits me, that in a normal market I could afford, [and] in any event negotiate the best rent I can for that property."
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