Finally Aucklanders looking for a home can breathe a sigh of relief - rents don't seem to be rising like house prices - but it's not such a pretty picture for its surrounding halo regions.

TradeMe's monthly Property Rental Price Index shows despite the Auckland housing market continuing to soar - the median rent in Auckland has increased just a single dollar in the last year.

Head of property, Nigel Jeffries said there are other factors at play in Auckland such as a higher supply of apartments and a higher number of people living in a single household.

He said while they can't tell whether it's people taking flatmates in or families living closer together, it is evidence demand is lowering and holding rent prices at bay.

However in the halo regions surrounding Auckland it's not looking so flash.

Mr Jeffries said Aucklanders looking for a cheaper place to live in the surrounding regions are driving up prices, and now rents.

Median figures show that excluding Auckland, the rest of the country paid an extra thousand dollars in rent in the last year.

"Excluding Auckland, the rental market across the country is very strong and tenants are forking out a lot more on average.

In the past year median weekly rents outside Auckland have risen from $360 to $380 - that's approximately $1,000 more a year".

The Bay of Plenty and Manawatu continue to be two of the strongest regions for median weekly rent increases over the past year, up 20 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

"Tenants in the Bay of Plenty are paying approximately $3,500 more a year for their rental property than they were a year ago. The region's median weekly rent has hit $420 a week, the same median weekly rent as we see in Wellington".

To compare, Mr Jeffries said Auckland's median is at a stubborn $500 per week and Christchurch is at $400.

He said the Christchurch rental price story continues to be one of decline and while that decline has definitely slowed, it's still coming down off the construction highs post earthquakes.

"There's quite a lot of supply adjustment but interestingly on larger homes there's been no change - it's been static at $675 a week."

Looking to the future Mr Jeffries said tenants countrywide can expect a less volatile market, rents over the next 12 months will rise subtlety, with no more substantial increases.

The figures for TradeMe's monthly Property Rental Price Index are pulled from medians of about 11,000 properties rented from the site per month.