Tony Alexander survey shows 54% of landlords now plan to lift rents
More New Zealand landlords are planning to raise rents over the coming year, while concern about rising interest rates has climbed to its highest level since late 2023. That’s according to The Property Consortium’s October 2026 Investor Insights survey with independent economist Tony Alexander (pictured).
A net 54% of the 228 investors surveyed said they intend to lift rents in the next 12 months, up from 46% a month earlier and the strongest result since May 2025. Alexander noted that big moves in this measure have tended to stick in the past, suggesting “new rent pressures may be coming through”.
Market data suggests the slide in rents is over: Trade Me’s September Rental Price Index shows the national median asking rent held at $620 a week, with no annual fall since May.
The size of planned increases remains modest. The average rise landlords hope to achieve sits just below 4%, edging up slowly as council rates, insurance, and maintenance costs mount.
Buying and selling intentions both firm
Investor demand shows tentative signs of stabilising after falling steadily from early 2022. Just over 15% of investors are considering buying another property within a year, the best reading since April.
Selling intentions have firmed as well, with just over 36% considering a sale, the highest since May. Netting the two, sellers outweigh buyers by 21 percentage points. That’s an improvement on earlier in 2026, but Alexander said it would be premature to call a turning point.
“Post-election readings will be informative,” he wrote.
Alexander said buying intentions were unlikely to improve much before the election, given uncertainty over a possible zero-period bright-line test, effectively a capital gains tax. Among investors planning to buy, 32% would choose a new build or develop a property themselves, the highest share since January.
Rates and election weigh on sentiment
The share of landlords worried about interest rates rose to 13%. With rates likely to rise through 2027, Alexander said any lift in investor demand could be constrained, and “the degree of gain from this market segment may be relatively limited”.
The Reserve Bank paused on 28 October but signalled more to come: it held the official cash rate at 2.75% in a 4–3 vote, after raising it in July and September, and said tighter monetary policy is likely to be required.
Concern about potential tenancy rule changes has also risen ahead of the 7 November general election, with polls yet to signal whether a centre-left or centre-right government will form.
Other worries are easing. Fewer investors fear losing interest deductibility, a shift Alexander linked to the Labour Party’s statement that it would not remove it again if elected, and concern about insurance has been declining since early 2025. Council rates remain landlords’ top concern, though that worry is slowly fading, possibly helped by government plans to cap council rates rises at 4% a year from 2029.
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