World of pain coming and landlords give up

“Often the best landlords are the mum and dads, but unfortunately many are now exiting the market as it has become too tough.”

He says the pressures on rental stock have only grown, not helped by the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle earlier this year. Then there’s more regulation and a loss of tax deductibility on landlords’ mortgage interest costs.

“Housing supply is coming on stream, but the demand is huge, particularly when considering strong inbound migration, people living longer, and more families banding together under one roof to minimise cost,” says Kearins.

Today, the Reserve Bank could make it tougher for landlords by lifting the OCR to its stated ceiling to 5.75%. Most economists are predicting it will go higher by the end of the year.