Rural rental affordability now matches metro areas
New Zealand’s rental affordability has shifted unexpectedly in recent years, with rural areas now facing similar rental pressures as metro regions, according to Infometrics.
“Average rents have been rising much faster than average incomes in provincial and rural areas, so that rural rental affordability is now on a par with metro areas,” said David Friggens (pictured above), technical lead at Infometrics.
Provincial areas least affordable for renters
For the past four years, provincial areas have had the least affordable rental markets, surpassing both metro and rural areas.
“Renting has been least affordable in provincial areas for the past four years,” Friggens said, highlighting a surprising trend in New Zealand’s diverse economic landscape.
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Introducing regional groupings for deeper analysis
Infometrics recently introduced new regional groupings – metro, provincial, and rural areas – to help users analyse the varying economic conditions.
These groupings, covering 63%, 32%, and 5% of the population respectively, offer insights into rental affordability and other economic factors across different regions.
“They can be used to explore the economic stories across the country through a different lens,” Friggens said.
Broader economic insights beyond rental affordability
Friggens pointed out that rental affordability isn’t the only difference across these regions.
“The three groups differ in the age and ethnicity of their populations, they score quite differently in our wellbeing framework, and the effects on employment are notably different from tourism, dairy, and knowledge-intensive jobs.”
The new regional groupings provide valuable tools for comparing economic data across different parts of the country.
Access the Infometrics report in full here.
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