Number of renters decreasing
New Zealand was found to be among the list of countries which have the most expensive rental costs in the world, as reported in an article by personal finance website loveMoney.
According to its report, which studied the average rental costs for one-bedroom city-centre apartments, New Zealand took the 16th spot with an average rental price of $1,085 per month.
The article further noted that amid the rising cost of rent, there was a decrease in the number of renters in the country in 2023, with homeowners taking up 66% of the population, increasing from the 64.5% recorded in 2018.
This decrease in renters was caused by factors such as people from younger generations opting to migrate, stay longer with their parents, or live with relatives. In relation to this, there was a notable increase in the housing supply.
In recent years, New Zealand has been facing a housing affordability crisis which has been caused by high prices, low supply, rising interest rates, rental market challenges, and government initiatives. Because of this, both homebuyers and renters are faced with difficulties in securing a home for themselves as many are forced to spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
As for the issue of rising prices in both homes and rentals, the article said that the country with the most expensive rental cost is Singapore with an average of S$3,651 per month, followed by Hong Kong with HK$2,168. Switzerland came in third with CHF1,893, Luxembourg in fourth with €1,697, USA in fifth with US$1,759.
Ireland took the sixth spot with €1,589 per month followed by UAE with 5,960 dirhams, Qatar with 5,526 Qatari riyals, Netherlands with €1,403, Australia with AU$2,206, UK with £1,065, Canada with CA$1,868, Israel with 4,501 Israeli shekels, Denmark with 8,325 Danish kroner, and Norway with 13,000 Norwegian kroner.
The report by loveMoney was based on the data from Numbeo, the world’s largest cost of living database, which crowd-sources its data from more than 823,000 contributors together with information from governmental institutions and other organisations.
