The New Zealand property investment market is never easy to predict. But certain trends are likely to emerge based on the current market climate. Here are my top predictions for the coming years:

Rooms to rent: With stock deceasing, rents rising and a property market that is increasingly challenging for first time buyers, the reality is more and more young people and young professionals will be renting rooms for longer, which is ideal for investors! The market for shared housing with rooms let on an individual basis is steadily increasing, and will only continue over the course of 2016.

2016. Airbnb provides another option for returns: Airbnb will not revolutionise the rental market any time soon, but for landlords in big areas like Auckland or Queenstown that feature on the international tourist trail, there will be opportunities to secure short-term rentals at higher rates. This will inevitably take some rental properties off the market as landlords seek to maximise their revenue through the tourist market.

Boom and bust will continue: When we look at the financial crisis of 2008 and what happened to global property prices, we swear never again to borrow beyond our means and to exercise caution with our exposure to mortgages and loans. And yet we never learn. Human nature dictates that property markets expand and contract. As ever, smart landlords will continue to see these cycles as an opportunity while others will be burnt by them.

Property managers will be highly sought after: Technology is making property management firms more efficient and more cost-effective to run. The current property management landscape in New Zealand sees only 25% of investors using a property manager for their property. Property managers have access to a range of tools and resources such as tenant screening and a database of trades people, which the self-managed investor doesn’t have. Time is a highly sought after luxury and as our lives continue to get busier in this modern day and age, more investors will turn to property managers – freeing up their time.

Sarah Dawson –Head of real estate sales, Rockend.