Tourism hotspot Queenstown's rental prices have taken a big hit thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, new data shows.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on Monday show Queenstown's rent has fallen at least 10 percent in the last three months to June.
The drop in rent was seen across a number of cities, particularly those in the South Island, Stats NZ revealed.
Rents for the South Island, excluding Canterbury, were down 8.6 percent in May 2020 - the biggest monthly drop for any region since the series began in November 2006.
"This fall is influenced by falling rents in tourism hotspot Queenstown-Lakes District," consumer prices manager Bryan Downes said.
"The lockdown and border closure to slow the spread of COVID-19 coincided with reports of short-term rental properties aimed at tourists - like AirBnB and BookaBach - being offered as mainstream longer-term rentals."
Downes said the fall in tenancies started in April, as New Zealand came out of the alert level 4 lockdown.
"As people were unable to move and no viewings took place, there were fewer tenancies starting in April," he said.
Around the country, rents for new tenancies fell 0.6 percent in May, after a 1.8 percent fall in April. In the year to May, rents fell 0.2 percent for new tenancies.
"This is the first annual fall in rents for new tenancies in more than 10 years - rents since the global financial crisis have in general been increasing," Downes said.
An intelligence report published in May 2020 shows the slowdown in overseas tourism caused by coronavirus had a notable economic impact on the Queenstown-Lakes District.
Economists estimate the unemployment rate in the region to be anything between 8 percent and 30 percent.
