Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Sarina Gibbon: Auckland Property Investors' Association Spokesperson on landlords offering incentives to prospective tenants

Transcript

Sarina Gibbon: Auckland Property Investors' Association Spokesperson on landlords offering incentives to prospective tenants · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It wasn't long ago that people looking for a rental
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: property we're fighting off hundreds of other applicants to find
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a home to rent. It was tough, but that tide
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: has turned. There are so many rentals available that some
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: landlords are offering incentives. Some are saying, come and rent
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: my place. I'll give you a five hundred dollars grocery voucher.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Others are offering three weeks of rent to sign tenants up.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: So how big is the gap between supply and demand?
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: And why?
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Serena Gibbon is from the Auckland Property Investors Association and Joints.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: So now goodbrying to you, Serena.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Andrew, how are you?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I'm good? So is this common as landlord's offering incentives
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: all over the place?
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't say it's terribly common. I think the fact
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: that we're starting to hear stories of these incentives popping
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: up around the marketplace just tells us how out of
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: line some landlords rent expectations are in terms of the market.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: So for those who do go for the sweeteners, do
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: they work.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: On a case by case basis?
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: I hope they work, But in general, I think look
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: at the end of the day, Andrew, if you put
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: a lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig, right,
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: So I think the better option for landlords is really
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: look at resetting their into expectations. Also look at incentivizing
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: the tenants by upgrading their properties and lifting the property's standards.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: So that's a more attractive option for someone to call
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: a home. And I think for tenants, given all of
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: these choices, you know, rather than being distracted by a
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: five hundred dollars food voucher, research the landlord, go on
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: the tendency tribe, you know, find out what kind of
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: landlords are they going to be dealing with, Research the properties,
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: compare the options that are out there, because it's a
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: really good time to take advantage of that competitive edge.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: The problem though, of upgrading your property is that's even
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: more expensive than a five hundred dollars grocery voucher, So
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: it's hitting the imagins.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Well. Not all upgrades would buy.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Not all upgrades will be backbreaking in terms of financial commitment,
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: and if you do it, if you do it smartly,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: it could be incredibly cos sufficient attractive to the tenants
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: and will add value to the property. So I wouldn't
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: write that off straight away. I guess what I'm trying
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: to say is, you know, landlords and tenants are bit
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: off looking for long term benefits rather than short term sweetness.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Okay, so when did we start to see a change
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: from the rental shortage that we got used to before
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to and oversupply. Did the change in government bring back
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the investors and the landlords? Are they more properties online?
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't peg it with the change of government.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: I would however, say that around about a year ago
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: we started hearing stories of properly using vacant for longer
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: open homes being you know, not really having a lot
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: of people visiting. So but I think that is really
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: much in line with the economy very lock stamp or
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: with you know, and exodus of the younger workforce from
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: New Zealand to the likes of Australia and the UK.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: You suddenly have a bottoming out of tenant, the tenant
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: a certain cord of tenants. But also, you know, when
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: I think back to back in the post COVID days
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: when we're going around the country madly building infill terrace housings,
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: you know what we're hearing is a lot of those
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: terrat housings are sitting empty, either as properties will sale
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: or property for rent.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I have one last question, hopefully you can answer quickly.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: There's a truism that rents never go down, they just
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: don't go up so fast. Could this gluck possibly see
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: a drop in rental prices?
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it definitely could see a dropping rental
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: prices in the short term. Hope it doesn't last long.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Of course. And Serena Gibbon is from the Auckland Property
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Investors Association. For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 3:35
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• 3:39
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