Gisborne tops rental property investment hotspots

Realestate.co.nz CEO Brendon Skipper says the data uncovering current hotspots for rental property investors will surprise some people.

An analysis of data by Realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest website dedicated to property, has spotlighted those regions that were the best performers in residential rental property investment over January. 

Gisborne came top in offering the highest returns for rental property investment in New Zealand, followed by Otago and Manawatu/Wanganui.

The analysis looked at every region in the country to identify which offered the highest returns for would-be landlord investors.

Gisborne returned an average of 5.78% on residential rental property investment in January, based on an average asking price of $258,515. 

Otago returned 5.54%, and Manawatu/Wanganui returned 5.12%. The national average for rental property returns for the month was 4.10%.

Realestate.co.nz CEO, Brendon Skipper said, “The results will surprise some people. There are clearly some very attractive rental property investment opportunities in some parts of New Zealand that don’t ordinarily attract intense national media interest when it comes to property – based on our calculation of average asking price vs weekly rental price, excluding all external costs.

“While data shows the best performing region for rental property is Coromandel, we believe its unusually high average return of 9.88% is skewed by short-term holiday rental properties.

“Of greater interest for potential investors are the significant rental opportunities that exist in quite diverse parts of the country, in particular Gisborne, Otago, and Manawatu/Wanganui,” says Skipper.

The rental property ROI data was calculated by comparing the average asking price of properties for sale by region across New Zealand in January 2016 with the average annualised rent in each location.

The data assumes 100% rental occupancy, and does not account for inflation, mortgage interest payments, property management or maintenance upkeep fees.