America's Cup syndicate on Auckland rental property hunt

Sailors coming this way: 2011 helmsman, Peter Burling.

The hunt is on for properties in Auckland's already-squeezed rental market with an America's Cup challenger team appointing a local real estate management business to snare places from this year.

Catherine Goodwin, chief executive of inner-city-based property manager Goodwins, said the New York Yacht club American Magic syndicate had engaged the business to find places from October this year to the end of March 2021.

Houses, apartments and units are being sought in Westhaven, Viaduct Harbour, Princes Wharf, lower Auckland CBD, Herne Bay, St Marys Bay, Freemans Bay, Parnell, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Orakei, Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers, Remuera and throughout the wider Auckland region, she said.

"With more than 100 team members and support crew currently seeking accommodation in Auckland during the build-up to the 2021 America's Cup match, Goodwins are proud to have been announced as the official Rental Accommodation Partner of New York Yacht Club American Magic, a US Challenger," Goodwin said.

"The only official housing partner of American Magic in New Zealand, Goodwins are now taking enquiries to place tenants across various combinations of time from October 2019 to March 31, 2021, as well as short-term accommodation options for visiting media and fans," she said.

Guaranteed fixed-term tenancies of up to 17 months could be very attractive to many landlords, she said.

In September, Graham Wall Real Estate said it had secured what it thought was the first America's Cup property deal with a $7 million Herne Bay sale already settled and another under negotiation.

The agency team is also working on other deals, having attended four consecutive America's Cups to make connections, he said in September.

"We've just sold one house to a Kiwi in a syndicate and he'll move back here," Ollie Wall of Graham Wall Real Estate said. "A large percentage of the high-end properties we sell are to Kiwis moving home. America's Cup is full of Kiwis, so we expect a spike in this market."