15 Oct 2024
Rental market update: more homes, softer rents
Spring in the Hutt Valley looked different from any other point in a decade of managing homes here. A lot of stock, an oversupply, and rents being pushed down while rates, insurance and mortgage costs were still high. A lower OCR takes time to reach an owner's bank account. There was more discomfort to come.
After Covid the valley had the opposite problem. Demand outran supply, rents hit records, and Upper Hutt sat at the top of the regional list. At one point there were 26 rentals available in the whole of Upper Hutt.
The picture in mid-October 2024
- Upper Hutt: 91 homes available, mostly 2 and 3 bedrooms
- Lower Hutt: 277 homes available, again concentrated in 2 and 3 bedrooms
A 2 or 3 bedroom listing had to be competitive, or offer something the others did not. Owners coming out of a long tenancy often found the new rent was below what the outgoing tenants had been paying, even though the cost of owning the house had gone up. We would rather price it so it lets than watch it sit. A free appraisal uses what has actually rented, not last year's hope.