From Airbnb to corporate: Zodiak evolves for low times
Thursday, 7 May 2026
Adaptation is the key to survival, and that’s why one Auckland-based property management company has introduced a service it believes is the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Zodiak Management has specialised in short-term, Airbnb rental properties since it was founded in 2016, and has generated more than $30 million in reservation income for its clients.
But now it has launched management services for medium-term, corporate rentals and traditional long-term tenancies - and property owners can switch between the different types of services depending on their goals.
Stefan Nikolic, the company’s founder and managing director, said the new adaptive service offered property owners flexibility while allowing them to maximise the income they earned.
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An owner could have their property on Airbnb during the high season summer months and then switch it to a corporate rental for a few months during the low season, for example, he said.
“When less people are travelling, especially from overseas, short-term rental incomes drop, so we started thinking about how we could ensure our owners have more stable occupancy and incomes.
“That became especially important over the last two years with the economy not doing so well, and it continues to be now with the potential economic impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
“So we wanted to explore alternative options to a sole focus on short-term rentals.”
The corporate market needs fully furnished rentals for three to four months at a time, so offering a service in that space seemed a good way to cover the low season, or quieter times for Airbnb owners, he said.
“It’s true the corporate market is also catered for by hotels, but that’s what inspired us to try it out. Imagine being a guest in a hotel room for three or four months - you’d go crazy.
“Instead we can offer fully furnished, home away from home places to stay, and that’s a pretty tempting alternative for people who are in Auckland for a few months on business.”
Auckland has seen a significant increase in hotel rooms over recent years, and Nikolic said that meant the short-term properties that did well now were ones that were above average.
“Demand for standard one-bed or studio size short-term rentals has reduced, but two- or three-bed offerings are doing really well, and high end, premium properties also continue to do well.
“These types of properties can accommodate groups of workers or sports teams that are here for a couple of months, and we’ve made some good contacts in this space that will send their clients our way.”
The new adaptive service is not the first time that Zodiak has evolved to address challenging conditions.
It navigated Covid disruption, and now has 115 properties under management, compared to 80 when the pandemic hit, and a larger number of employees.
The company has a team of five account managers in Auckland, and a guest communication and administration team in the Philippines, and it employs contractors for house keeping and maintenance.
Nikolic said they had not seen much impact from the war-prompted fuel crisis, although some suppliers had raised their prices a little, and demand was a bit softer.
In April the occupancy rate across the portfolio was about 75%, and that was within Zodiak’s target rate of 75% to 80%, he said.
“April and May are the start of the softer winter season so it’s hard to tell how pronounced the impact has been to date. We’ll have to see what happens with demand going forward.
“But there’s more demand for short-term rentals over holiday periods, and the low season for short-term rentals is actually the high season for corporate rentals.
“So hopefully our new adaptive new service will allow us to offset any decline in short-term rentals, and deliver options and good results to our property owners.”
To the best of his knowledge, Zodiak was the only property management company offering this type of adaptive service in New Zealand, Nikolic added.
“Currently, we’re only operating in Auckland, but if the service is well received we plan to expand to other cities, and to hire a dedicated professional manager for traditional long-term tenancies.'