Todays’ face of the day Finance Minister Grant Robertson has stated that the huge rent rises across New Zealand, desperate tenants and landlords leaving the market in droves have nothing whatsoever to do with the COL’s “rental reforms” AKA landlord bashing policies.
[…] “The rental market at the moment is quite desperate,” she says.
Last year, the average cost of a rental property in Christchurch went up 1.7 percent to $379, while Dunedin went up 8.4 percent to $464.
Rental properties in Auckland rose 2.2 percent to $563 a week. Hamilton went up 6.1 percent to a December record of $420. Wellington went up 10 percent, topping the country with rents of $604 per week.
[…] It isn’t just students feeling the pinch – professionals and families are too.
“Previously, they’ve been competing separately for different types of housing. Now it’s an all-versus-all scenario, where you’re trying to find anything you can to get into a house,” Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen said.
[…] Demand in Auckland and Wellington has increased by 20 percent and 8 percent respectively. In Christchurch, it was up 22 percent, and in Dunedin, 24 percent.
“With demand already really high, we expect to see record rents and some pretty startling demand figures over the next few months,” Trade Me head of communications Logan Mudge said.
Some landlords warned the Government they would need to pass on the costs of its rental reforms – which include limiting rent rises to once a year and introducing new healthy homes standards.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says there is no link between that and rising rent prices.
Newshub
