Net no threat say estate agents as TradeMe turns to property

The expansion of New Zealand's largest internet trading site into property is "no threat" to established real estate agents, industry leaders say.

The internet auction site TradeMe, which attracts almost two million browsers a month, announced the launch of TradeMe Property at the weekend.

TradeMe general manager Sam Morgan said the site would allow agents or private sellers to advertise properties to a market of a million New Zealand TradeMe members.

"At just $50 to sell your house, the new site makes it a lot cheaper for agents and owners to sell houses," he said. "Selling your house is expensive enough without having to fork out thousands on marketing."

The site features over 1500 properties.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) says the net is just "one tool" people use to find information on properties, and TradeMe will not replace the need for agents.

REINZ president Howard Morley said he was not sure why TradeMe would imagine some agents were "twitchy" about the newcomer.

"The internet has been used by huge numbers of people to source details on properties for many years now - our own site has been up and running since the mid-1990s and that has been very successful," he said yesterday.

"Just like as with other products, travel for instance, people use the internet to source property - but that doesn't mean a sale is going to be made.

"Quite a lot happens between finding a property, then inspecting, negotiating it, closing the deal and buying it," said Mr Morley.

He said some people buying and selling properties could attempt to bypass agents - but warned there were dangers inherent in doing so.

"It's not quite the same as buying a camera, and people would need to take professional advice from an agent and their lawyers."

He said TradeMe had not sought the advice of the REINZ before setting up the site.

Ex-president Max Oliver said people would undoubtedly try to "go it alone" but they would always need professional advice.

"With private sales, people will push their own viewpoint rather than focus on what buyers are looking for - real estate agents do more than people think."

He said United States experience showed websites were not a threat to professionals.

The biggest site in the US was the official National Association of Realtors site, which "continues to blossom".

Mr Morgan said TradeMe planned to sell 8000 properties in three months.

"Our dedicated property site is already 95 per cent of size of the REINZ site, and we expect to surpass it pretty fast," he said.

Last month. TradeMe received 1,942,280 visitors, compared with 131,261 for the REINZ's RealENZ site and 78,322 for another property site, Open2View.

- NZPA