The proximity of Tauranga and Waikato makes Aucklanders more comfortable with managing a rental in the regions. Photo / Mark McKeown
The proximity of Tauranga and Waikato makes Aucklanders more comfortable with managing a rental in the regions. Photo / Mark McKeown
Rents have increased almost 10 per cent in Tauranga in 12 months - a larger increase than Auckland, Waikato and Wellington, according to new figures from Trade Me.
The average median rent in Tauranga rose $35 from $360 in May 2014 to $395 in May this year, an increase of 9.7 per cent.
This was higher than Auckland's rent increase of 6.5 per cent, and Waikato's and Wellington's 2.3 per cent.
Bay of Plenty region had an 11.4 per cent increase and the next highest was Manawatu/Wanganui with 8.7 per cent.
Head of Trade Me Property Nigel Jeffries said Auckland investors had a lot of interest in the Bay of Plenty.
"The big question is, will the land economics going up push the value increase that Auckland has seen into the regions? We're picking that will occur."
The proximity of Tauranga and Waikato made Aucklanders more comfortable with managing a rental in the regions, Mr Jeffries said. Yields were also higher.
Rentals BOP manager Gary Prentice said he had seen higher rents on new properties entering the market and properties that had been recently vacated by tenants, but properties with established tenants had only increased rents by small amounts.
"It's tough out there for people and rents that are being asked for newer places are quite high.
"People are having to get into group situations, or two couples sharing a home, just to cut the rents back."
Mr Prentice said if a person was unable to find a home for a long time, there was normally a reason, such as owning a dog or having bad credit history. While these things would not always deter a landlord, more favourable applicants would be picked first.
"They just don't have good references or they can't afford as much compared to the ideal tenants."
Ross Stanway, chief executive of Eves and Bayleys Real Estate said for a long period of time, rents did not move.
An influx of people to the region who were either looking to rent long-term or until they purchased a property, meant there was huge pressure on the rental market.
There was a lot of interest from the Auckland market, both as investments and from people who were buying a home, renting it out for a few years, then moving in.
"Over the same period of time, the average rental price has increased around 10 per cent, the average house price has gone up about 7 per cent. Employment has gone up 14 per cent, our economic growth leads the country. Add all those things up and we live in a great part of New Zealand." Tauranga Rentals owner Dan Lusby said there was still some supply in rental properties .
Good rentals are hard to find
It took Sarah Hoeft a month to find a rental property and she had to get a bigger home than planned.
Sarah Hoeft. Photo /George Novak
Mrs Hoeft and her husband Vinzent had been housesitting a property long-term before moving into their Judea rental in May.
"Houses that were coming up went really quickly. We would look at a property online, do a drive by, then come back home and it would be gone. They were often gone within a few days."
The house the couple finally moved into was a new three-bedroom costing $350 per week, rather than the two-bedroom home for $330 they had hoped to find.
Mrs Hoeft said she and her husband were happy to pay more for an extra bedroom and a nice house.
"We were originally looking at the Mount and Papamoa but it was just taking us too long to get a place that suited us. We were desperate to get out of the place we were in."
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