PHOTO: Ageing population to become one of the biggest drivers of New Zealand’s housing crisis, report finds
Real estate agents are under fire for failing to repay millions of dollars in wage subsidies, despite record property prices and a booming market.
Checkpoint can reveal more than $13 million was paid out to the real estate industry. Auckland-based Barfoot and Thompson received $4 million alone.
As COVID-19 slammed into New Zealand’s economy, many feared the housing market would tank.
Alert level 4 lockdown cancelled property viewings and most sales ground to a halt, with agents and their colleagues accessing the wage subsidy to get by.
Those costs reached more than $13 million for various businesses.
Many suffered significant financial loss, Real Estate Institute chief executive Bindi Norwell said.
“This was available for businesses across New Zealand… they had to provide evidence they’d had financial loss.”
Some of the biggest claims in the real estate industry were from the biggest players – Barfoot and Thompson receiving more than $4 million for 600 employees.
Property Brokers Limited received $1.9 million, Bayleys Real Estate got $1.4 million, and Eves Realty received nearly $560,000.
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