New Zealanders and international tourists can expect to pay 25% more for their holiday bach this summer, as bookings for December jumped more than 50% compared to last year.
Data from holiday home booking firm Bachcare suggested much of the expected increase in peak pricing is being driven by international visitors alongside a shortage of rental accommodation.
Bachcare's head of revenue, Nick Peirce, said the company had a 31% spike in bookings on last September’s levels for the coming summer season, with demand strongest on waterfront properties in the Coromandel, Queenstown and Bay of Plenty.
Peirce said it meant local holiday homeowners would scoop a windfall this year, with the top 50 homes expected to earn an average of $65,000 in annual rental revenue.
The owners of Mt Maunganui’s ‘The Nest’, the top earner, are set to pocket about $81,000, with January accounting for about a fifth of that. For non-ski areas, 40% of total holiday home earnings are generated between December and February.
Bachcare, which has about 2,300 NZ homes on its books, reported bookings are up by 3,100 nights on last year’s numbers through to February.
International visitors account for about 15% of that – getting back to pre-pandemic levels after last year's trickle during covid closures.
That, and a bounce in local tourist numbers, is expected to see some homeowners score record returns – upwards of $1,500 a night during peak weeks.
Peirce said properties that would “normally” go for about $1,000 a night are now asking $1,250 with pricing “closely tied” to the availability of supply.
Spa bonus
Available Airbnb bookings for a three-night, weekend stay in the resort town of Wānaka, for example, thin out from more than 100 listings during September to just 42 by late January.
The highest demand across most sites, unsurprisingly, included lake or beachfront properties as well as larger homes that could cater for families or groups of friends.
Properties with a spa earned an average of 43% more than those without while houses with four or five bedrooms could earn double that of smaller 'normal' sized offerings.
The data showed that regionally, the Southern Lakes region had the highest average gross rental income per property for the year to August, coming in at $21,324, although the top 20 properties in that region are at $61,000 already.
A holiday home in the Coromandel would earn about $13,577, with the region's top 20 – generally located in Whangapoua, Hot Water Beach and Kuaotunu – earning an average of $49,800 so far this year.
Holiday accommodation in Mt Maunganui would receive an average annual rental income of $21,300, with the top 20 earning about $37,600 on average.
David Aitkenhead, the owner of the popular Queenstown’s ‘Huge Lakefront Delight’ and a Bachcare client, said they’d initially purchased the home to be close to family, though renting it out while they were not using it had provided a number of financial benefits as well as “easing the pressure on existing infrastructure”.
