A look inside New Zealand’s luxury rental market

Saturday, 8 November 2025

Most Kiwis have done the renting thing. You’re looking for four walls, no mould, room to swing a cat.

For a while now the rental market has been changing - there are more properties available to rent and prices are falling. In fact, with prices going up on almost everything else, rents are about the only thing showing a consistent downward trend lately.

All of which is good news for the average renters.

But what if you are not ‘average?” Or what if you win the $40 million on Lotto this week?

If you are looking for the high end luxury rental market and can afford to walk into a fully furnished new home what’s the market like then?

For Stay Luxe’s director and co-founder Greg Owen who cares for, markets and manages luxury properties for rent around the country, it’s a growing market.

“The clients want the sort of life that a five or six star hotel would give them,” he said.

About 70% of their clients are from overseas and they are looking for things like security, maybe a personal chef, privacy and a curated experience right down to the art work. Owen works with New Zealand artists who put up their works into amazing homes. They also have cleaners who work with particular properties and 24/7 on-call maintenance staff.

“Clients might need space for a nanny or their personal chef. They are looking for a particular life style,” he said.

The market works in three ways, short time slots of a week or two, mid-range stays like three months but increasingly Owen is seeing clients who wants longer term, like an 18 month stay.

“Some come to New Zealand and rent these properties while they are looking to buy,” he said.

In Wellington, Oriental Bay is often considered a dress circle area - and one apartment at $4000 a week fits the bill. It comes complete with a private media room, its own art collection, all the kitchen appliances you could want and (unusually for Wellington) its own double garage.

Or how about a lovely Seatoun home - for $3100. It has four double bedrooms so it could be used by flatmates…..who also had some dosh.

On TradeMe Property the costliest rental is an eye-watering $8000 a week at 28 Blomfield Spa in Auckland’s Takapuna, available for a year. It’s beachfront and comes with its own cleaning service but also a few warnings - a year maximum rental and it’s not suitable for children.

But it turns out that the higher end rentals don’t always turn up on TradeMe. There are companies that cater to that market- like Stay Luxe

On its books right now is a penthouse in Auckland’s Ōkahu Bay that has a nightly rate of $22,000. Yes, you read that right. It comes with anything you could ever want, including the possibility of a personal chef.

If you are looking for a bit less than that there are others on offer from around the $400 a night mark to $15,000.

Alba Property Management has luxury properties around Auckland, Waikato and Queenstown - like a Crown Terrace home, at $8750 a night - with a wine room, library, butler’s pantry and views that you can't get anywhere else.

In Wellington and Auckland HiAtlas offers executive apartments with some in the $5000 a week range.

The Terrace Villas in Wellington are where film crew, diplomats, politicians have stayed for quarter of a century, some of them long term. Recently the villas have changed hands to new owners Grant Foggo and wife Sally Duncan from property management company Comprendé.

The villas, five grand Victorian homes, house 30 serviced apartments and each is uniquely decorated, with interiors bulging with period antiques and artwork.

Even with all that available, Owen said there is a shortage of properties for the luxury market and he would like to see more become available.

Perhaps whoever wins Lotto this weekend wants one?