New Zealand’ s rental market is putting tenants in the driver’ s seat.
Listings are surging, rents are static, and landlords, long the beneficiaries of tight supply and rising demand, are reassessing their investment strategy, adapting to new conditions.
“ Where we once saw tenants struggling with the imbalance in supply vs demand, landlords are now the ones feeling the effects with the pendulum having well and truly swung the other way,” says Zac Snelling, Ray White New Zealand’ s Head of Property Management.
“ It’ s a fundamental shift, and a reminder of the ebbs and flows of the property market. We’ re seeing the highest number of available rental listings in more than a decade, which has delivered equal challenges and opportunities for property owners.”
Zac Snelling Head of Property Management, Ray White New Zealand supply spike, including vendors pulling unsold properties from the market and placing them into the rental pool.
“ Some of these property owners didn’ t intend to become landlords – they simply weren’ t prepared to sell at current market value,” he explains.“ But their motivations for selling haven’ t gone away.
“ There’ s a rising trend of suppressed‘ for sale’ stock being temporarily parked in the rental market.”
Meanwhile, a decline in net migration, from a record 135,500 in 2023 to just 32,922 in the year to February 2025, has softened demand.“ Slowing wage growth and economic uncertainty have also constrained tenants’ ability to absorb rental increases,” Snelling says.
Add to that a healthy pipeline of newly completed homes – Auckland Council, for instance, issued a record 1,291 Code Compliance certificates for new dwellings in January – and it’ s little wonder the market is flush with choice.
“ Strong supply growth and softer demand have started to flow through the data. Our national average rent across the Ray White network rose just 3.60 per cent year-on-year in March – a modest increase that’ s significantly lower than previous years.
“ For landlords, this highlights the importance of staying competitive to attract and retain quality tenants.”
SUPPLY SURGE SHIFTS POWER
Industry data shows rental listings have surged by year-onyear to the highest volume recorded since 2014. Snelling confirms the trend is also being felt across Ray White’ s national network. However, his team of property managers are well equipped with the skills needed to navigate these changing waters.
“ Despite the current market, Ray White Property Management teams signed more than 1,500 new tenancy agreements and received more than 6,500 applications in March alone,” he says.
“ That’ s a strong result, but we have to work harder and smarter on leasing strategies to get those outcomes in a market with more tenant choice.”
Snelling points to a convergence of factors behind the
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