Golfing on your own south Auckland course or enjoying soaring Takapuna clifftop views - Auckland's most expensive rental homes are luxurious dream-worlds most of us can only ever dream about.

While many Aucklanders rejoice simply to find a mould-free, reasonably-priced city rental, those with wallets deep enough to pay $3500 per night for a stay at Te Hihi Estate enjoy a different pace of life.

The can fly into the six-bedroom Karaka villa advertised by luxury agents Touch of Spice on personal helicopter, play golf or tennis on exclusive courts, kayak their own personal lake and take horse tours of the grounds.

When it's time to relax, they can dip in a private pool and spa, stroll barefoot on heated floors and relax by an outdoor fire.

Then there's the most expensive Auckland rental listed on Trade Me, the $5000 per week Clifton Rd home in Takapuna that comes with cinema room, lap pool and spa, outdoor wood-fire pizza oven and petanque court.

But what really sets the home apart is its sweeping harbour views, according to Auckland Property Management's Yvonne Fitzgibbon.

"The atmosphere of the clifftop, you feel like you are escaping from it all," she said.

"That's what sells it, the ambiance."

The Te Hihi Estate and Clifton Rd house are part of an ultra-exclusive market for super high-end Auckland rentals and short stays.

Stays at Te Hihi Estate in south of Auckland cost $3500 per night and come with helipad access, swimming pool and spa and a golf course.

According to Fitzgibbon, it is usually overseas visitors on short stays, who are most able to afford these kind of prices.

Yet, the market is not just restricted to wealthy foreign visitors.

Newstalk ZB radio hosts Kate Hawkesby and Mike Hosking complained about it being a "nightmare" hunting for posh city rentals.

The couple recently sold their Remuera home for $9.6 million with Hawkesby writing in the Herald about her troubles finding a clean and professionally managed rental home to move into.

Yet Trade Me has a number of posh homes for long term tenants.

One is a three-storey unfurnished Hauraki Rd home in Takapuna, just around the corner from the Clifton Rd mansion, that costs $4000 per week and allows tenants to stroll straight onto Takapuna beach through their own private gate.

It has sweeping ocean-facing windows, five bedrooms with ensuites, three lounge rooms and a private boat shed and ramp.

For tenants seeking a more private getaway, Remuera's $3900 per week five-bedroom mansion may be more of a match.

Public records show the two-storey, 750 sq m Upland Rd home sold for $10 million last year. The property has an indoor lap pool, tennis court, media room, mezzanine library and giant entrance hall.

It is understood the home is being offered to long-term tenants rather than short-stay renters.

A top-end Freemans Bay property on the Trade Me list offered tenants the chance to view Auckland's skyline from the comfort of a penthouse apartment with "wrap-around" decking and spa.

The three-bedroom listing, furnished with Italian leather sofas, costs $3500 a week.

A nearby Herne Bay home on Jervois Road is gentler on the wallet at $3000 a week> For that there's a heated pool and spa, five bedrooms and an outdoor dining area with a fireplace.

Valued at $6.7m by council, the home sits in an exclusive location with public records showing The Warehouse chief executive Pejman Okhovat is among the neighbours.

However, the Jervois Rd rental is only available on a short term stay from December to next January.

For those wanting to really splurge on a no-expenses spared stay in the Auckland area then Waiheke's Omaru Bay villa - costing $28,000 per night and boasting its own helipad - may be the perfect choice.

The Te Hihi Estate is part of an ultra-exclusive market for super high-end Auckland rentals and short stays.

Advertised by luxury agents Touch of Spice, the villa has 18 beds, boat jetty, swimming pool with sweeping Waiheke views. outdoor fireplace and comes with chef-prepared dinners and concierge service.

Property commentator Alistair Helm said executives from major global firms, who were moving to Auckland to take up senior postings, were the most likely people to rent homes at the ultra top end of the market,

This was especially the case for unfurnished homes, he said.

"If you add up the cost in furnishing the homes, it is a significant amount of money," he said.

"Therefore it is more likely to be part of a support package of a major firm supporting an overseas executive into a role."

While there were not as many firms in Auckland as in London or New York willing to pay extravagant costs for their top executive's accommodation, such postings did occasionally crop up, Helm said.

Charlton Realty's Joanne Rae, however, said those showing the most interest in high-end properties she managed were local families, who had either sold their own homes or were in the middle of renovating or building, while interest also came from foreign diplomats.

She said only a "tiny, unique group of homes" were offered as super high-end rentals.

This was because most people buying such homes wanted to live in them and because the rental returns from them was not very high compared to the mortgage or purchasing cost.

Most of those who listed top-end homes for rental usually did so because they had a change in their circumstances, such as moving overseas for a job posting, she said.