Why do we have so many more property managers?

Hannah Clarijs has been a property manager for three years and says her job is a privilege.

"Meeting landlords and giving them advice, guidance and knowing that properties are in safe hands under my management.

"It's also rewarding providing renters with a home they get to call their own. There are hard days, endless things to manage and issues that need to be dealt with but overall the diversity of the people I meet, connect with and help and being able to trust that I do a great job and fulfilling both landlords' and tenants' expectations is what really keeps me going."

Census data shows a growing number of people are probably like her.

The number of property managers increased 53 percent over the ten years to 2023.

There were 8600 property managers in 2023, from 5600 a decade ago.

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said that was equal to 21 property managers for every 1000 rented homes with a bond, up from 17 a decade ago.

There were 566,000 households renting in the 2023 census, about a third of households.

Eaqub said rented homes tended to be more crowded, with 3.3 adults per rented home compared to 1.8 in owner-occupied homes.

Only 80 percent of the rented properties had bonds lodged.

Clarijs said she saw more people seeking management because of regulations that added to landlord responsibilities and changes to the laws. "Landlords want to ensure that things are being handled by the book. Tenancy law is more complex now, which increases property managers' workloads, requiring more hands on deck to manage the rental properties."

Eaqub said owners of rental properties were getting older and many had large portfolios so it could be quite as lot of work to manage.

"Having a professional who does that on your behalf makes sense."

The government said in April it would not go ahead with the previous government's plans to regulate property managers.

"New Zealand is in the middle of a housing crisis. Adding more regulation to the rental property market isn't the way to open up more housing supply," Housing Minister Chris Bishop said.

Eaqub said that created a situation where it was not always clear that property manages would operate in a uniform way.

"It's a shame the current administration has stopped work in this area, as it would have also been good for property managers, property owners and renters - providing consistency and accountability. Any market is a construct, and those markets operate well when there is good regulation, rather than an absence of regulation."

He said the industry could end up developing its own code of conduct and systems and processes.

Real Estate Institute chief executive Jen Baird, who had been pushing for regulation of property managers, agreed the significant growth in property management was due to the increasing complexity of rental property ownership.

"More landlords are seeing the value in leaving tenant relationships and compliance obligations to a professional property manager. While it's difficult to quantify exactly how many property managers there were initially, what's clear is that as the compliance and complexities increase many now face challenges managing portfolios of over 100 properties without additional support. This has led to a growing demand for professionals handling smaller portfolios.

"This shift highlights the importance of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's advocacy for regulating property managers. With professionals entrusted with managing substantial assets, regulation is vital to ensure they have the necessary skills and expertise to fulfil these responsibilities effectively."

Stephen Dallow, regional manager for property management at Barfoot & Thompson, said there had also been general growth in the rental market over the 10 years.

"A lot of work has gone into improving and professionalising the property management industry over the past 10 years."

He said companies such as his had offered Real Estate Institute-accredited training for property managers, and Barfoot & Thompson had moved to reduce the size of the portfolio of individual managers, which meant they needed more staff to cover the properties managed by each branch.

"The professionalisation of the industry is also drawing more people to a career in property management. We find roles are highly sought-after - for example, spots in our training academy for new managers, which takes four to six months to complete before moving in branch, are fully-subscribed until mid-next year."

Careers NZ says property managers can earn up to $122,000 a year when they have experience.

Some are paid a salary while others work on commission.