New Zealand's Wellington saw a record high of 965 properties listed for rent in January, 54.2% more rental listings than the same time last year, data from realestate.co.nz showed on Monday.

However, students heading south face a much tighter rental market as Otago's new rental listings were down 32.9% year-on-year, with just 139 properties listed for rent in January, compared to 207 in January 2025.

Meanwhile, Canterbury offered students more choice with 892 new rental listings in January 2026, an increase of 16.9% on the same time last year.

Average weekly rents fell 8.9% year-on-year to NZ$659 per week, although this remains above the national average rental price of NZ$634 per week.

Renters in Auckland are also paying above the national average rent, with the average rent in the City of Sails at NZ$686 per week, down 1.8% on January 2025.

The average weekly rent in Otago fell 4.1% year-on-year to NZ$519 per week in January, and was flat in Waikato, down 0.3% year-on-year to NZ$556 per week.

National rental stock increased 9.8% in January, with 7,830 rental properties available compared to 7,129 properties in January 2025.