Subsided rent and grocery vouchers are just some of the ways landlords are trying to get tenants, as rental listing levels hit a 10-year high.
Year-on-year comparisons show listings in March were up by 41%, according to Trade Me property, while median rent has fallen 2.3% to $635 a week.
“We’re seeing a lot of people moving the country, so that’s freeing up some rental properties,” Trade Me Property’s Gavin Lloyd told 1News.
“It’s quite hard to sell properties at the moment and to get those asking prices, so those properties that aren’t selling are being put back into that rental pool.”
It’s forcing landlords to think outside the box with incentivising tenants to sign their properties.
“We’ve definitely seen the incentive of an added free week of rent up front… grocery vouchers, someone mentioned a free television upgrade, so people are getting quite creative to fill their rental properties,” Lloyd said.
One of Wellington property investor Adam Cockburn’s rental properties has sat empty for around six weeks.
It was rented out for $1200 a week earlier this year, now it’s advertised at $650.
“It’s certainly occupying some headspace, a bit of stress I’d rather not have,” he said.
NZ Property Investors Federation said a lot of landlords are struggling to find tenants, meaning a lot are putting rents down as a result.
“It’s better to have someone in at a lower rent than to have an empty property sitting there waiting,” said NZPIF’s Matt Ball.
But rent hasn’t dropped in all areas – Nelson Tasman’s median weekly rent has reached a record high of $600, while Otago’s increased by 5% to $630 and Waikato’s up by 2.7%.
“We don’t really want these recent statistics to downplay the reality that it’s still very expensive,” Renters United’s Lucy Walker said.
“There might be a bit more power on the side of the tenant, which is great.”
