PHOTO: The dispute between Propellor Property founder Nikki Connors and Opes Partners managing partner Andrew Nicol occurs in a market where prices and sales are falling, and there are more people competing to sell every property.
According to STUFF New Zealand has a record number of real estate agents but, even in a falling market, disputes between them are rare – which makes a fight between property ‘royalty’ even more unusual.
She calls herself “the queen of property”, while he’s dubbed himself the market’s “prince”.
When she advertised her company was “the most ethical”, he erected a large billboard above her Christchurch office in protest. He then took to the country’s most popular business podcast to criticise her market projections, resulting in a legal letter from her.
The dispute between Propellor Property founder Nikki Connors and Opes Partners managing partner Andrew Nicol occurs in a market where prices and sales are falling, and there are more people competing to sell every property.
According to Real Estate Authority (REA) figures, as at May 31 there were a record 16,809 real estate agents, salespeople and branch managers in the market, up from the previous high of 15,848 at the end of last year.
Those agents are competing in a market where 17,000 fewer sales are expected this year compared to last according to CoreLogic, with house prices having already fallen 6% and further falls expected.
The strain from higher interest rates, escalating build costs and falling prices is already showing, with the chief executive of Master Builders saying the construction industry is likely at the start of a bust cycle.
Three businesses led by Connors are now facing liquidation following applications by Inland Revenue.
Despite the market going backwards in 2022, REA chief executive Belinda Moffat says the authority is yet to see an exodus of active licensees.
Change in tactics
Ray White franchise owner Tom Rawson says disputes between those in the real estate sector are rare because the industry is regulated, but as the market falls, some agents are resorting to dropping commissions or over-appraising properties to win clients.
When the latter happens, he says his agents usually sit back and wait, because in a falling market the tactic usually leads to months without a sale, after which sellers will switch to a more realistic agent.
Rawson says REA figures have a lag and only show dropouts when licences aren’t renewed, which can happen months after an agent stops selling.
He says he has seen many abandon the profession already this year, as sales get harder to make.
Queen versus prince
Some property personalities, though, aren’t going quietly into the night.
Both Opes and Propellor work with developers, matching new builds to investors, providing financial advice and assessment, and receiving a fee for setting purchases up.
When Nicol placed the billboard above Propellor’s offices back in December 2020, Connors received a late-night email with a picture of him and colleague Ed McKnight standing below it.
It read: “Prepared to take this down, but also happy to extend for year and erect the next one if you won’t be reasonable and accurate with your advertising statements. Let me know.”
Connors says she found the email threatening, and a legal letter was sent advising that Propellor would drop the claim of being “the most ethical” property investment company, but asking the Opes pair to desist.
Things settled down for a while, but then a prospective client shared some of Propellor’s projections with Opes, and Nicol and McKnight released an episode of their popular Property Academy Podcast, titled: “Propellor Property Investments – an honest review … Are their cashflow projections accurate?”
