Spring Rental Market Update
It seems unanimous – winter has been the best that a lot of us can remember. The low water level in the reservoir at Ross Creek Reserve is certainly an indicator of the ‘dry’ winter we have had. Plenty of time yet though for the weather gods to give us a pre-Christmas soaking, so let’s not celebrate the positive effects of global warming on the Dunedin climate just yet!
Rental activity over the winter months has been very slow. This is no different to what we have noticed other years so no cause for panic. People don’t like to think about the upheaval of moving house in the midst of a cold Dunedin winter. We expect rental demand to pick up from about now through until Christmas and resume again in early January. For that very reason we encourage our property owners to avoid fixed term tenancies which come due for renewal in the winter months. In unavoidable situations where this does happen we look then for fixed term tenancies to take the property through to early in the New Year and then fix for 12 months – thereby getting the cycle back to the high rental demand time of year.
We wouldn’t say that tenants are getting ‘picky’ but high on their list of wants are the following:
1. Good heating – preferably heat pump/s
2. A modern or at the very least a functional kitchen with a dishwasher
3. Modern bathroom
Our strong relationship with Dunedin hospital has seen us working with even more new registrars coming to the city this year. They make for good tenants and are excellent to work with. We hope to once again work with the new MBA course members expected to start arriving towards the end of the year. Hospital and university ‘tenants’ generally want modern and clean one or two bedroom properties within walking distance. If you know of any such properties then please let us know as we expect the demand to be high.