Bayleys fined $2.2m in real estate price-fixing case

They are are among 13 national and regional real estate agencies the Commerce Commission filed court proceedings against in December 2015. Agents allegedly agreed that vendors - not the agencies - would have to pay Trade Me listing fees which increased in early 2013. Some agencies pulled their listings entirely from Trade Me and opted for realestate.co.nz instead.

The proceedings relate to three separate alleged price fixing and anti-competitive agreements among national real estate agencies, Hamilton real estate agencies and Manawatu real estate agencies in response to Trade Me changing its fees for listing properties for sale on its website.

Bayleys and Success are the first agencies to appear in court in relation to the national and Hamilton cases respectively. Bayleys reached a settlement with the Commission before court proceedings were filed, while Success reached a settlement shortly after.  Each has admitted its conduct breached the prohibition on price fixing in the Commerce Act.

Read Full Story: Bayleys fined $2.2m in real estate price-fixing case