Rental market already tilted for tenants
Rental market shifts are putting more power in tenants’ hands, with one Rotorua property manager seeing the first price drops in years in some areas.
A drop in house sales is believed to be contributing to a rise in rental listings as homeowners who are struggling to sell rent out their properties instead.
And landlords no longer “inundated” with applicants willing to pay the asking price are being advised to invest in keeping good tenants loyal.
Seriously, as if the field can’t be tilted any more in favour of tenants. Talking with my sister about renting our jointly owned inherited home in Narrowneck.
Apparently tenants in NZ are allowed to make minor alterations and paint walls without needing to inform the landlords and put locks on windows. I had rentals in NZ in 80s and 90s, never again.
Why bother. The place is wrecked, you would be nuts to get into rentals for the first time.
— Bruce C It’s the property managers that have caused the overpriced rental market. As a landlord of a long-term tenant, my property manager is always telling me to increase the rent. I always say no. If the rent is increased, the property manager makes more. Excellent tenants do not need yearly increases.
— Lynn K I live in Rotorua, and yes, there are issues around social housing and motels, but overall it remains an awesome place to live. The social issues it faces are not much different to many, if not most, cities in NZ —
there are poor parts of town, and wealthier parts of town. But as a destination there are heaps of great things to do, and as a place to live it has a fantastic community. It definitely isn’t the place that some commentators here seem to paint, who I suspect have little, if any, real connection or experience of Rotorua. I am also a landlord and I have to say rents were getting ridiculously high — I have no issue with seeing average rents come back to realistic levels. We keep our rents down as we prefer to have good stable tenants, and see it as a service rather than a pure moneymaking exercise. Definitely not doom and gloom as this article headline seems to say, and more a sensible correction to an overinflated market.
— Erin R
In reply to Erin R: Erin, I agree, there are several fantastic, great things to do around Rotorua. We came in 2020, and again in 2021 for several days. But we do not feel comfortable to walk around town, or going out for dinner. That is not only in Rotorua, but elsewhere as well, like central Auckland. We do not want to be insulted or worse. And the risk is definitely there, seeing lots of questionable people, in our view. Do not misunderstand me, I do not want to “diss” your town. I feel sad for people living there. And it is sad to see what has happened. But reality for us: it is not what it was. Not as nice, does not feel safe.
Time for the residents to claim back their town.
— Alexander G
This will be a very short-term drop if the drop is only due to people being unable to sell their properties and renting them out instead.
Many of the people looking to rent are the ones who have difficulty obtaining good references and once these new landlords have had to deal
with some of these people and the Government’s new rules, they will find that they are far better off to ring state housing and sell their house to them and then head to Aussie.
—Royh
Many landlords would rather leave a house empty or decrease rent than take a chance on a marginal tenant as once they’re in it’s difficult to get them out. Apparently a landlord can get physically assaulted three times before they have grounds for termination of the tenancy.
— Nicholas B
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