New Zealand housing market ‘insane’ for buyers, realtor says their ‘job is to get best price’

Real estate agents are being accused of fuelling the red-hot property market by manipulating so-called “estimated prices” on websites.

Consumer advocates warn it is a case of “buyer beware” and urge those looking for a home to do their homework first.

Edward and his wife have been looking for a home in Wellington for a couple of years “on and off”.

“We start looking, and then prices shoot up too much and we stop … until we go another round.”

In the last three years, residential property prices in the region have ballooned 51.4 percent – from $518,000 in 2017 to $785,000.

An avid follower of the website homes.co.nz, Edward was horrified to learn it was a simple matter for agents to bump up the estimated value of a property by uploading their own appraisals.

“And quite often it goes way above the market rate for that area.”

In a blog post, which dropped off the website when it was re-platformed, marketing manager Fiona D’Silva Moiyadi, gives step-by-step instructions for modifying HomesEstimates.