New Zealand's biggest residential receivership sale places 153 rental units on the market

The biggest single receivership sale of residential investment property ever seen in New Zealand is placing seven large-scale multi-tenanted units on the market for sale – encompassing some 153 rental units.

Located in Hamilton, New Plymouth and Palmerston North, the seven properties include:

Three multi-level accommodation complexes in Central Hamilton – offering one bedroom apartments letting for $300 per week, and studio units renting for $200 per week. On adjoining titles, the complexes each have their own titles.

Two neighbouring residences near Waikato University in Hamilton – with 20 residential units in a pair of American college ‘fraternity house’ style buildings with occupancy rates above 85 per cent.

16 three-bedroom townhouses in New Plymouth – each returning $475 per week and high occupancy rates, with mainly professionals as tenants. The properties as a whole also provide the opportunity for an investor to unit title the townhouses for sale individually.

An extensive accommodation complex in Palmerston North – featuring 24 studio units renting for $190 per week, 12 self-contained studio units letting for $225 per week, and a five bedroom home occupied at $450 per week.

The portfolio is being sold through a tender process managed by Bayleys Real Estate, with tenders closing on July 1. Bayleys sales consultant Cameron Melhuish said all of the accommodation units have been trading well since being placed in receivership at the end of 2008.

The units were rented by a wide variety of occupants – including university students and other tertiary education users, people on short-term employment contracts, young business professionals, and those new to Hamilton, New Plymouth or Palmerston North seeking short term rental units before buying their own property.

“The size of this offering is immense and represents a significant chunk of private accommodation in those respective markets,” Mr Melhuish said.

“The portfolio can be sliced up numerous ways – with one investor buying the entire seven properties as one business, or individual buyers purchasing a single property. There is the potential within some of these listings that a new owner could comfortably live within the premises while continuing to operate them as commercial accommodation.”

Mr Melhuish said Bayleys has already been talking to several large corporate investors about the portfolio, and had received considerable interest from commercial or industrial property investors looking to diversify their holdings to include a greater proportion of residential titles.

“While the size of these properties may be beyond the realm of someone wanting to invest in a three bedroom house or block of two bedroom flats, they do fall well within the budgets of family trusts or small to medium-sized investment portfolios. We have even had enquiries from offshore,” he said.

“With student places at Waikato and Massey universities now at a premium, this has generated a flow-on effect for the accommodation sectors in Hamilton and Palmerston North – hence the high occupancy levels of these residences. This certainly underpins their attraction from a cash-flow perspective.

“Meanwhile in New Plymouth, the size of the dwellings on offer – being three bedroom units on low to no-maintenance sections – has ensured strong demand from executives and professionals”