January 2011 Rental Update
Rental enquiry has been steady over the summer holiday break with Geri Martin, Bayleys North Shore rental manager, saying Devonport, Takapuna and Mairangi Bay remain favourite ‘wish list’ locations for those seeking to rent a property.
“Along with the traditional family market we are seeing an increase in enquiry from people involved with America’s Cup squads looking to rent in these seaside areas. The homes most in demand are three-four bedrooms with two bathrooms,” says Geri.
Some enquiry is also starting to filter through from people looking for short-term rental accommodation for the duration of the Rugby World Cup 2011.
“These need to be quality dwellings of apartment standard with each bedroom having an accompanying bathroom. September and October are the key months with some enquiry coming through from international media personnel seeking a base in Auckland,” says Geri.
“I welcome calls from anyone considering renting out their property during the Rugby World Cup – especially those people who are considering being away from the North Shore for those key months.”
Geri can be contacted at Bayleys North Shore on +64 9 487 0635.
Nicky Lewis, principal of Quinovic North Harbour who works closely with Geri through a property management alliance with Bayleys North Shore, says in line with seasonal trends, summer 2011 is proving to be extremely busy.
“There’s good demand for quality properties and it is not unusual to have 10 or more people attending viewings. Recent media reports in Auckland talked of bidding wars for rental properties, but we certainly have seen no evidence of that on the North Shore. However, we have seen a small increase in rents due to supply and demand dynamics coupled with landlords needing to recoup some of the costs associated with the GST rise from 1 October last year,” says Nicky.
“We have also seen evidence that there are more people looking for rental properties than actual properties available. This is in line with recent publicity about a supply squeeze across New Zealand, so we may see residential property investors come back into the market to rectify the imbalance.”
With regards the Rugby World Cup, Nicky says long-term landlords who have their properties managed would need to carefully weigh up the benefit of taking short-term rental leases versus looking at their income streams in a bigger-picture context.
