Change is afoot for the real estate industry and many of the pressing issues were shared with Dunedin members of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
Tenancy agreements, methamphetamine testing and disclosure, property manager regulation, money laundering and proposed punishments for erring real estate agents were all given a brief airing yesterday.
While the previous National-led government had regulatory proposals under way for the sector, it was evident the Labour-led Government has yet to fully show its hand on many of the issues under scrutiny.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell and chief legal officer Lisa Gerrard yesterday in Dunedin spoke to more than 35 Otago agents representing most of the main real estate agencies.
Ms Norwell focused on increasing the use of data and technology in the year ahead, and how that would be collated and used by REINZ, on behalf of real estate agents, but also in conjunction with other organisations and the public.
She outlined the rise in the use of drones, virtual and augmented reality devices, 3-D presentations and smartphone app developments.
Using Dunedin as an example, she said data could be collated on net migration, unemployment, household earnings, population growth and median house prices, a ''slicing and dicing of information'' to better reflect trends in the area.
''This could then be overlayed into comparing one suburb to another to look at trends and prices,'' Ms Norwell said.
The REINZ's relatively new house price index was developed in conjunction with the Reserve Bank, to be used by banks and economists when reporting on housing.
Ms Gerrard gave an overview of several regulatory issues, including REINZ programmes and guidelines covering many subjects for agents.
From early 2019, all agents had to be ''up to speed'' including with anti-money laundry compliance, knowing not only where people were from but also where their money originated, she said.
Her advice on the contentious issue of methamphetamine contamination was for agents to always make disclosure of its presence, at whatever levels it was reported, noting testing levels were still being reviewed and could yet change.
She said the ''big project'' for the coming year was regulation of the property manager sector, to come under the Real Estate Agents Act, which she described as having gained ''no traction'' with the National-led government, but might yet under Labour.
''It's unknown what the new Government wants,'' she said.
Ms Gerrard also took issue with the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Bill, which proposed agents could fined up to $100,000 for ''unsatisfactory behaviour'', which was at the minor end of misdemeanors if they were facing sanctioning.
She noted the Real Estate Agents Authority already had penalties of that size in place for the more serious allegations of ''misconduct'' against agents.
