Rental listings spike as exams finish; mortgagee sales jump

Signs of stress in the property rental and property sales markets continued to flow through in the first two weeks of November as an exodus of students after university exams increased rental listings and mortgagee listings jumped to a fresh record above 500. Our index of total rental listings on trademe.co.nz and realestate.co.nz jumped 7.7% in the last two weeks, its biggest rise since interest.co.nz started monitoring listings in March. The end of university exams in early November is likely to have been a factor, although the slow spring property sales season may have convinced many property investors to take their property off the sales market and put it back on the rental market. Weekly rental prices have been broadly stable for most of this year despite a slowdown in new housing construction, continued migration and higher actual interest rates for landlords. Meanwhile mortgagee listings monitored by interest.co.nz rose through 500 for the first time, hitting 509 on Monday or 0.46% of total listings. Mortgagee listings are up more than 25% in the last month and have more than doubled since early March when we started the survey. * This article was first published yesterday in our daily subscription newsletter for the banking and finance industries. The email costs NZ$365 per annum and carries exclusive news and analysis for New Zealand banking and finance industry executives, regulators and investors. Sign up for a free trial here.