Rents across the country have been stagnating for the last four months, even as house sales and prices have been ramping up.
Figures from Trade Me show the national median rent was steady at $400 a week in November.
That was unchanged from August, but 5.3 percent up on November last year.
Trade Me head of property, Nigel Jeffries, said the rental market had reached a plateau.
"I think it's very much supply and demand things. It appears that there's actually quite good supply of rental properties in most of the markets.
"There's still a little bit of heat in the Christchurch market, but it appears that's starting to plateau and come off the boil, compared to where it was," he said.
The figures show although median rents nationally rose 5 percent over the year to November, they fell in Manawatu/Whanganui, the West Coast and Otago.
The rate of increase has also eased in Auckland though it recorded a median price of $460 which remains a record high for the city.
Twelve regions recorded increases - including Nelson, Marlborough and Taranaki where rents hit $350 a week - up 16 percent.
The median rent in Christchurch, where supply is tight, rose 6 percent to $450.
Trade Me says rental growth has been sluggish, compared with the period betwen 2011 and 2014 when rents surged by 21 percent.