The issue that could have the greatest impact on the real estate profession over the next three years is changing
government and local council regulations, according to research issued today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand
(REINZ).
According to a survey of 1,861 real estate professionals around the country, 59% citied changing regulation as their top
concern, whereas two years ago changing regulation was 6th on the list with 51% citing it as having a great impact.
Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ says: “Given the pace of legislative change the real estate profession has had
to deal with over the last two years, including Anti Money Laundering, changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, a ban
on letting fees, negative gearing, asbestos, methamphetamine and a ban on foreign buyers, it’s not surprising that
regulation is top of mind right now for the industry.
“The real estate industry has had to deal with more legislative changes in the last two years than we’ve dealt with in
the five years prior. This has involved a significant level id upskilling across the industry as well as the
implementation of new technology systems and processes; all of which require an investment which comes at a cost,” says
Norwell.
Second on the list of issues that could have the greatest impact on the real estate industry is global economic
conditions with 53% of respondents citing this as a concern – up slightly from 52% in 2017. This was followed closely
with New Zealand’s the aging population (53% - down from 57% in 2017) and new legislation (50% up from 39% in 2017).
Other trends viewed as having the greatest impact on the real estate industry are people moving from larger cities to
small towns (50% down from 52%), immigration (39% down significantly from 65% in 2017) and more apartments/terraced
houses being built (36% down from 43%).
“When we last surveyed the profession back in 2017, the issue that the industry felt could have the greatest impact was
interest rates with 69% of respondents citing that as their top trend. As interest rates have continued to fall over the
last two years, it’s now 9th on the list,” concludes Norwell.