{"id":477455,"date":"2026-06-14T22:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T22:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/477455\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T22:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T22:05:10","slug":"bay-of-plenty-rent-growth-slows-as-supply-and-costs-reshape-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/477455\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay of Plenty rent growth slows as supply and costs reshape market"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Rentals property manager Theresa Brand said the most expensive rentals in Tauranga were \u201cheavily centred\u201d around the coastal suburbs.<\/p>\n

These included Mount Maunganui, P\u0101p\u0101moa, parts of P\u0101p\u0101moa Beach, and \u201cpremium pockets\u201d of Bethlehem and \u014ct\u016bmoetai.<\/p>\n

Brand said weekly rents reflected that hierarchy, with P\u0101p\u0101moa and Mount Maunganui sitting at the top end of the market at about $740 and $735 a week, respectively.<\/p>\n

Bethlehem ranged from $720 to more than $850, depending on the size and quality of the home, while \u014ct\u016bmoetai averaged about $700.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mount remains a prestigious rental market due to beach access, cafes, tourism, and strong professional demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said rental prices had changed in the past year, but the pace of growth had slowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemand is still strong, but tenants have become much more price-sensitive due to cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell-priced properties still rent quickly; overpriced properties now sit noticeably longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauranga Rentals principal officer Dan Lusby said rent had been \u201cgenerally flat\u201d in the city, with an increase of less than 2% in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for rent to go up when there is more to choose from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lusby said Tauranga Rentals had 150 properties available two years ago, but that had now doubled to 300 available properties.<\/p>\n

He said the rental market had \u201cdefinitely changed\u201d in the past three years and the cost of living<\/a> crisis had affected what tenants do.<\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga Rentals principal officer Dan Lusby. Photo \/ George Novak<\/p>\n

\u201cIt costs them more to move than stay where they are, so they think if they keep their rent paid and property looked after, their landlord will keep rent down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on the other hand, costs for owners are forever going up and need more to help cover those increases in rates and insurances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinovic Tauranga general manager of property management Juli Tolley said prices \u201cflatlined\u201d last year but were starting to \u201cinch back up\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t likely we will see the high increases we saw in years past, but if costs continue to increase, rents will too.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said prices were largely influenced by the running costs of owning a property<\/a>, which had increased significantly in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis surge was the big push behind the large increases in rents we saw from 2020 to 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tolley said tenants were being more \u201cdiscerning\u201d with properties and were often asking for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are asking for modern features such as dishwashers, better lighting, decks, and private outdoor areas for entertaining are always a welcome feature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotorua tenant needs \u2018more apparent\u2019 <\/p>\n

Carrie Metcalfe, director of iRent Property Rotorua, said Western Heights was a \u201cpopular suburb\u201d for rentals.<\/p>\n

She said the median price was $590 per week, but the highest median rent was in Lynmore at $710.<\/p>\n

\u201cModern rental properties and new builds continue to receive a high number of applications, as do larger family homes with four or more bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metcalfe said tenant preferences had become \u201cmore apparent\u201d in the current market.<\/p>\n

\"InIn Rotorua, Western Heights is a \u201cpopular suburb\u201d for rentals. Photo \/ Ben Fraser<\/p>\n

\u201cOften, the benefits of a nice house outweigh a longer commute to work or school.<\/p>\n

\u201cProperties that are dated, require modernisation, or lack practical features such as garages and off-street parking are more generally attracting less interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Rotorua\u2019s strong outdoor and recreational culture meant many tenants placed high value on secure storage for equipment and other everyday needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cProperties that offer functional storage solutions and covered parking are often viewed more favourably and can lease more quickly than comparable homes without.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ministry data on rental prices <\/p>\n

Data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development shows rental bonds lodged and median weekly rents across the Bay of Plenty in the 12 months to November 2025, compared with the same 12 months prior.<\/p>\n

In Tauranga, trends diverged sharply by suburb. The biggest changes were seen in Pyes Pa, Tauranga Central, Tauranga South, and Mount Maunganui North.<\/p>\n

Pyes Pa West rose from 242 to 280 bonds, with rents unchanged at $750. Pyes Pa North saw a fall in activity from 69 to 54 bonds (down 22%), and a $20 rise in rent to $750.<\/p>\n

Tauranga Central fell from 128 to 108 bonds, with a $20 increase in median rent to $640. Tauranga South also had a fall in bonds, 208 to 194, with rents rising from $630 to $650.<\/p>\n

Mount Maunganui North remained relatively stable in activity (177 to 176 bonds), with a slight rent increase to $700.<\/p>\n

The Rotorua district showed broad-based growth in tenancy activity.<\/p>\n

Victoria rose from 115 to 135 bonds, Glenholme North increased from 104 to 125, and Pukehangi North climbed from 63 to 76.<\/p>\n

Western Heights also rose from 87 to 95, while Owhata West edged up slightly.<\/p>\n

Median rents were largely unchanged across the district, with the exception of Western Heights, which increased from $580 to $590.<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"East Rentals property manager Theresa Brand said the most expensive rentals in Tauranga were \u201cheavily centred\u201d around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[95,806,1561,138,802,3499,225,111,139,69,1118,1562,16401,54547,53779,19862],"class_list":["post-477455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-and","tag-as","tag-bay","tag-business","tag-costs","tag-growth","tag-market","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-plenty","tag-rent","tag-reshape","tag-slows","tag-supply"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}