New Zealand

Last year, we found that the best rental returns available on apartments in Wellington had moved slightly ahead of Auckland. This may reflect a jump in prices of larger properties in Auckland, which would tend to reduce the rental returns. “Foreign buyers are mostly drawn to the Auckland area”, explains Bill Sandston, a real estate lawyer.

In Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, rental yields on 1 and 2 bedroom houses are now around 5.5%.  Apartments, and particularly smaller apartments, tend to earn more - last year we found returns of from 6.88% to 8.43%  

In Auckland, last year we found that rental yields on apartments ranged from 6.09% to 7.18%.

Property transaction costs analysis in New Zealand are rather low, and in regional terms, the total costs of buying and then selling a property are very attractive.