Our Story

A century of expertise

REINZ goes back to the early 1900s when there were local associations of land agents –the real estate agents of their day. During this period, land agents often had a local representative, and these professionals would get together to assess policy and what was happening in the property industry across New Zealand.

This was particularly important when new legislation was passed, specifically the Land Agents Act (1912).

Establishing REINZ

In 1915, the Dominion Estate Agents and Land Auctioneers Association was formed in Wellington, and this organisation eventually became the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). The New Zealand Licensed Land Agents Association was formed in the late 1950s, and after lengthy negotiations, it amalgamated with REINZ in 1962 for a united front to be presented with the passing of the Real Estate Agents Act 1963.

Under that Act (effective from 1 April 1964), all practising licensed real estate agents were required to be a member of REINZ. The amalgamation contributed to membership numbers, seeing individual membership surpass 1,000 for the first time, and helped to contribute to more formalised practices and codes, and an important collective voice for the industry.

The Real Estate Agents Act 2008

In 2008, the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 created a new government body –The Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA, now known as the REA or Real Estate Authority today) – to take over the licensing and disciplinary functions of the Institute. REINZ became a voluntary member organisation.

Residential property managers also became deregulated. The Real Estate Institute created a new board and structure which forms the basis of what we know as REINZ today. We still work closely with the REA but have very separate functions. We are proud to say over 17,000 industry professionals are voluntary members today.

National headquarters

The original home of the Dominion Association was Wellington, simply because that was where the national body was formed in 1915. The national office of the Institute remained in Wellington until 1924 when it moved to Auckland to follow W J A Thomson, who was appointed secretary.

RAW Barnes was appointed as the Institute’s first full-time secretary in 1961, and the first national offices of the Institute were established in the MLC Building, opposite the Auckland Town Hall on Queen Street. The Institute moved in 1966 to its own national headquarters in the refurbished premises at 74-76 Wakefield Street. In 1987, the move was made to a two-storey stand-alone building with carparks at 202 Parnell Road where we stayed until the building was sold in 2013.

For an interim period, the headquarters moved to 128 Parnell Road while looking for a new building to purchase, resulting in a move to Grafton in 2017 to the current headquarters on Khyber Pass Road.