Supply for Rentals – Highest Availability in 16 months +

Confirming our suspicions, our friends at Trademe have done some digging in the stats draw for us.

In March 2018, Trademe had the highest number of rentals advertised in the Auckland Central market that they have had for at least the past 16 months. (Probably longer but we only ran back that far)

And not by any small amount – there were almost 400 more options on the market in a 10km radius in March and we are a few days away from April stats but we know it will be a similar result. That is 400 more units/houses/properties vying for competition from top quality tenants.

And we are feeling the pressure. Smartly presented and what would have been considered well priced properties in any year/month but this, are sitting on the market weeks longer than expected as tenants have their pick of the litter.

So what is a landlord to do?

We encourage landlords to do a number crunch. How long has the property been vacant? How long might it continue to be vacant with no changes? What if you dropped the price? Check out this simple table that you could have a go at copying.

It’s tough to say how many weeks a property will be occupied for at a certain price but just as a quick exercise to get you thinking and taking action rather than waiting.

Our advice: Revisit your advert.

Are the photos representative of current condition?

Is the property presented in its best light?

Is your description of the property helpful to those who have never seen it and don’t know the area? Try for an emotional connection.

Have you written your ad for those most likely to take it? (students, professionals, holiday goers)

Take new photos, remove the ad for a day and put it back up with a new main photo to garner more interest or get a second look.

And our final word: Don’t be tempted to skip checks because of vacancy. Vacancy is ALWAYS the better option than a tenant who will take advantage of you or your property. Screen every applicant equally, don’t allow yourself to be rushed.