Homes to house them all
Do you have a handy hobbit-hole going spare? Do you fancy an orc, an elf or maybe even Gandalf living in your home?
Amazon Studios is set to start filming its Lord of the Rings television programme in Auckland – and rental homes are being sought to house the actors and production crew.
Property management firm Goodwins is seeking expressions of interest from Auckland homeowners who have properties to rent to people working on the series.
Goodwins need about 250 homes in central and west Auckland, from early February to May and from mid-October until late June 2021.
It follows a a similar request for properties to house members of the America’s Cup syndicate American Magic.
Goodwins did not want to comment further, but Bindi Norwell, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute, said it was likely that a range of rental properties would be needed.
‘‘Property is likely to range from high-end properties with all the bells and whistles for the ‘stars’ of the show through to more modest properties for cast and crew.
‘‘When the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in Wellington median house prices in Miramar, which is close to Weta studios, increased as the demand for good properties outstripped supply.’’
Property records show median prices in Miramar increased from $253,000 in September 1999 just before filming started to $321,500 just after filming had begun.
‘‘The same was true with the rental market as many of the crew were renting during the filming period, although due to the shortage at the time some rented as far away as the Hutt Valley,’’ Norwell said.
‘‘It is likely that we could expect a similar pattern for the
Auckland rental and housing markets closer to when filming starts.
‘‘Although with the America’s Cup already starting to place pressure on the rental market, there is a chance the increases in rental prices could be felt even more strongly this time,’’ Norwell said.
‘‘Overall, it’s great news that Amazon has confirmed it will be filming its Lord of the Rings television series in New Zealand, as this has potentially strong economic benefits for a number of industries including film, tourism, retail and real estate.’’
TradeMe head of rentals Aaron Clancy said Auckland was experiencing ‘‘enormous demand’’ for rentals.
‘‘In November we saw the number of inquiries on Auckland rentals rise 21 per cent on the year prior.
‘‘This increasing demand is unfortunately only going to get worse in the next few months which are typically the busiest for the rental market.’’
This week, Amazon revealed the core cast of the upcoming production, with the local actors’ union perplexed that no New Zealand actors were among them.
The influx of big-budget productions such as Avatar and Netflix’s live-action series Cowboy Bebop are placing strain on local film-makers’ ability to find studio space and workers for domestic television productions.