The Tauranga rental property market is ticking along unaffected by the ructions rocking the Auckland market where an acute shortage of rental accommodation is hiking rents and attracting scammers.
While the Tauranga market does fluctuate from week to week, there is no huge shortage, says Tauranga property manager Helen Barnard.

'Comparing Auckland to Tauranga is like comparing peas with carrots – they are completely different markets,” says Helen.
'Two weeks ago you couldn't rent fast enough, then all of a sudden – stopped.
'It's a funny old world and a funny old market. I've been in this business for some time and it fluctuates from week to week. There's no huge shortage.”
At the end of the day, someone with good references is going to find a property, says Helen.

On the other side of the coin, landlords are not going to attract good tenants to housing they don't want to spend money on.
'It's just ticking along,” says Helen.

'We all have to work harder because of the economy. A lot of land lords want to have a dollar each way and want to sell but keep tenants, which makes life even harder for the property managers.”
In Auckland, demand exceeds supply, a situation blamed for a 24 per cent increase in price in some city fringe areas. Tenants are reported to be offering six months rent in advance to secure housing.
The frenzy is also attracting scammers luring tenants to give away personal details or pay up-front fees. The scammers will offer incentives like a reduced weekly rent in exchange for three months rent up-front, on properties they have no right to rent, or properties that do not exist.
Scammers will also offer reduced rent if business is conducted outside of the website, says TradeMe trust and safety manager Chris Budge.
Renters should not make any tenancy arrangements or payments without going through TradeMe procedures.

Renters should also be extremely wary of sending money through overseas transfer agencies such as Western Union or Paypal, says Chris.