Rugby fans set sights on private properties

This house in Sandringham has been offered for $7000 a week during the Rugby World Cup. Find out how much your house could earn at stayinnz.com. Photo / Natalie Slade

As hotels begin cashing in on next year's Rugby World Cup by increasing their prices significantly, interest in private homes is also picking up pace.

A three-bedroom house listed as being "very close" to Eden Park is advertised for $7000 a week and is available from September 4 to October 30, 2011, on the stayinnz.com website, which was launched specifically for the tournament.

Other property owners are asking for several thousand dollars a week to rent out their homes to fans.

On the website holidayhomes.co.nz, a West Auckland "farmhouse" is listed as a "Rugby World Cup haven" and has an asking price of $500 each night.

Although accommodation providers are not breaking any laws by raising their rates - as long as there is no price fixing and rates are advertised before purchase - the Commerce Commission is making moves to set up a programme to address issues relating to the World Cup.

A spokeswoman said the commission had not yet received any complaints.

Hamish Congalton, co-director of stayinnz.com, which charges people a flat fee of $49 to register their house, said demand from homeowners and rugby fans was increasing.

"In the last two to three weeks we've seen it pick up dramatically."

Homes in Auckland and Christchurch were the most sought after - particularly from fans in Argentina, England, Scotland and Wales.

The $7000-a-week property listed on his website was probably at the "extremely high end" of the scale.

Tourism Auckland chief executive Graeme Osborne is not concerned about escalating prices.

"I think we'll find an equilibrium which actually is sensible and acceptable ... This is early days."

Osborne said if New Zealanders were being silly, they would experience a very quick reality check when demand for accommodation dropped.

Catherine Goodwin of Ray White Goodwin Realty said more homeowners had been inquiring about renting out their properties since the World Cup's international launch.

"These are not necessarily prestigious, showpiece homes. They really are a cross-section of people who are starting to wonder, 'Is there an opportunity from this event'?"

Crockers Property Services city office team leader Maree Egan-Banks said staff were fielding about 12 calls a day from landlords.

Most callers wanted their homes rented for between five and 10 days but most fans making inquiries were wanting to stay only two or three days at each location.

Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully has written to the Hotel Association asking its members to find a balance between charging a premium and upholding New Zealand's reputation as a welcoming destination.

"It's not acceptable for anyone to rort the system and I'm simply asking people to understand the difference between charging a premium and doing something that is extortionist and harmful to New Zealand's reputation from a tourism point of view."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: DEREK CHENG