Summary of consumers price index for the June 2019 quarter

Stats NZ consumer prices managers talk about petrol and rent prices as the main drivers for inflation in the June 2019 quarter.
Transcript: The consumers price index rose 0.6 percent in the June quarter 2019, and 1.7 percent for the year. The main drivers of this quarter’s increase were higher petrol prices and higher rents. In the June quarter we started using a new and better way to measure rent prices. We used to survey a group of landlords, and now we use data about tenancy bonds filed with government agency MB [Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment]. The new method is a real improvement because it covers the whole rental market, not just a sample group.
This quarter’s rise in rents was the highest since 2008.
Rents rose by 1 percent in the quarter. The highest rental inflation was in Wellington where rents have increased by 3.8 percent since June 2018.
Auckland rental inflation was 2.0 percent in the past year. In Canterbury, rents have risen just 0.9 percent in a year. If these rental increases sound small, it’s because the CPI reflects all those tenancies that had no change in rent, not just rents for new tenancies. We call this the ‘stock’ measure, because it represents the whole stock of rental properties. Most landlords change rents when their tenants change, rather than adjusting rents every year.
If you’re interested in what’s happening with prices just for new tenancies, you can check out our new monthly rent price index release, and look at what we call the ‘flow’ measure of rent prices.
Petrol prices were the other big change this quarter, rising 5.8 percent.
They had an even bigger impact on overall inflation than higher rents. The average price of 91 octane petrol was $2.13 per litre this quarter, up from $2.01 in the March 2019 quarter.
These petrol prices are the average over the quarter, so they reflect the weekly ups and downs.
They also include the impact of discounts from things like loyalty cards and supermarket vouchers.
Falling prices this quarter included second-hand cars, domestic air fares, and rental cars.
Domestic airfares usually fall at this time of year as we move out of the peak summer tourism season when prices tend to be highest.