Another conference. Another prospecting boot camp. Another session promising more listings, stronger negotiation and higher performance. Why does real estate seem to involve so much training — and whose interests does that training serve?
The answer involves several things at once: professional obligations, practical skill development, new recruits and the commercial pressure to generate sales.
Training can protect consumers and help salespeople build sustainable careers. It can also help agencies increase their revenue.
The question worth asking is what agents are being trained to do — and how success is measured.
Are they becoming better advisers, or simply more effective at securing the next listing and closing the next transaction?
SOME TRAINING IS COMPULSORY — FOR GOOD REASON
New Zealand real estate licensees generally must complete 20 hours of continuing professional development each year, comprising 10 verifiable and 10 non-verifiable hours.
For 2026, the verifiable component includes a one-hour mandatory topic and nine hours of electives. The mandatory topic concerns digital technology in real estate transactions.
That is different from an agency’s sales meeting or motivational conference.
Real estate involves substantial sums, contractual obligations and decisions that can affect a household for years. Continuing education is a reasonable expectation of professionals working in that environment.
Experienced people also need to keep learning. The existence of training does not establish that the people attending it are incompetent.
A LICENCE PROVIDES A FOUNDATION — EXPERIENCE MUST FOLLOW
The standard entry qualification for a New Zealand salesperson licence is the New Zealand Certificate in Real Estate (Salesperson), Level 4.
Newly licensed salespersons also face additional restrictions during their first six months, within the industry’s supervision requirements.
A qualification provides a foundation. It cannot reproduce every difficult negotiation, sensitive vendor conversation or complicated transaction a salesperson will encounter.
Some newcomers bring substantial experience from other careers. Others need more practical support.
Our view is that the important distinction is between teaching someone to pass an assessment and helping them exercise sound judgement when a real client’s interests are at stake.
That requires supervision, feedback and access to someone experienced enough to intervene when necessary.
IS TURNOVER PART OF THE EXPLANATION?
Recruitment creates a continuing need for induction and practical training.
REA’s 2024/25 annual report records 2,078 new licences issued, compared with 1,710 the previous year. Total active licences increased by only 1.3%, reaching 15,692 at 30 June 2025.
Those figures show substantial licensing activity. They do not, on their own, establish how many new salespeople failed, how quickly they left or why. Licence totals include different licence classes and movements between statuses.
It would therefore be misleading to turn those numbers into an unsupported claim that a particular percentage of recruits disappears within a year.
Nevertheless, there is a legitimate question for agencies: how much training develops established practitioners, and how much repeatedly brings new recruits up to speed?
Property Noise has previously explored the pressures surrounding agent turnover and commission-only work.
The missing evidence is a clear national picture tracking new entrants over several years, including their earnings, retention and reasons for leaving.
COMMISSION CREATES A POWERFUL COMMERCIAL INCENTIVE
Where a salesperson’s income depends on completed transactions, converting activity into sales matters enormously.
Agency owners also have a commercial interest in productive teams. An office must generate enough revenue to support its operation.
That gives training a business purpose alongside its professional one.
A session on prospecting can help a salesperson find clients. A negotiation workshop can help an office complete more transactions. Better systems can reduce missed opportunities.
There is nothing inherently wrong with those objectives.
The tension arises when transaction targets become more important than the quality of advice given along the way.
That is an assessment of the incentives in the model, rather than evidence that every agency or trainer behaves that way.
THE INDUSTRY OPENLY TRAINS FOR PERFORMANCE
The commercial emphasis is visible in agencies’ own descriptions.
Harcourts says its training helps consultants become market specialists, negotiators and prospectors, gain listings and build repeat business.
Ray White describes its Compass programme as helping teams generate opportunities, make greater use of listings and grow their presence in a market.
These are practical business-development objectives.
They support the argument that training is partly designed to increase output from sales teams. They do not demonstrate improper pressure or poor client care.
Indeed, better organisation and negotiation can benefit both an agent’s business and the vendor.
The meaningful test is whether the commercial gain comes from a better service.
MORE SALES PER PERSON — BUT AT WHAT STANDARD?
From an agency owner’s perspective, improving sales per salesperson can be a sensible goal.
However, the number alone cannot tell a homeowner how well their property was handled.
An agent could complete more sales by improving communication, matching buyers effectively and managing campaigns carefully.
A different approach could emphasise speed, persistent pressure and securing agreement before a client has properly considered the implications.
Those are possibilities to examine, rather than findings against a particular business.
Property Noise’s view is that training should be assessed against both productivity and professional conduct.
A higher sales count deserves scrutiny alongside accurate appraisals, clear explanations, disclosure, complaint handling and the quality of client communication.
DOES MORE TRAINING PRODUCE BETTER CONDUCT?
REA received 487 formal complaints in 2024/25, compared with 361 the previous year.
That increase gives the industry reason to examine practice standards. It does not prove training has failed: complaints are allegations, and changes in reporting, market conditions and case complexity can affect totals.
There is evidence of perceived educational value too. REA’s annual report says 76% of surveyed licensees believed CPD improved their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
The challenge is connecting learning with behaviour.
Knowing the correct answer in a training session and applying it during a stressful transaction are different tests.
Agencies should be interested in both.
A CONFERENCE CANNOT REPLACE DAY-TO-DAY SUPPORT
Training can introduce a useful technique. Its value depends on what happens afterwards.
Does a new salesperson receive feedback on an appraisal? Is someone available to review a difficult issue? Can a struggling recruit ask for help without being treated as a disappointing sales number?
These are practical measures of support that prospective recruits can investigate.
The same applies to experienced salespeople. Repeating a motivational message will not resolve every problem with workload, systems or leadership.
If an office repeatedly needs to teach the same basics, management should examine why the learning is not becoming established practice.
That question applies beyond real estate, but the financial stakes make it particularly relevant here.
WHAT VENDORS SHOULD ASK
A claim of extensive training is a starting point for a conversation.
Before appointing an agent, homeowners could ask:
- What recent training is relevant to my property or circumstances?
- Who supervises or supports you when a difficult issue arises?
- How do you establish and explain the appraisal range?
- How will you report buyer feedback and offers?
- How does the agency evaluate service quality as well as sales results?
Specific answers are more useful than the number of conferences someone has attended.
The cost of selling also makes that scrutiny worthwhile. Property Noise has examined agency commissions and the questions vendors should ask before signing.
THE PROPERTY NOISE VIEW
Real estate has considerable training because the work requires professional knowledge, newcomers need support and agencies want productive sales teams.
Turnover may contribute to the recurring demand for induction. The evidence reviewed here does not establish its exact contribution or justify a sweeping claim that most recruits lack ability.
The sharper question concerns priorities.
Training should help agents earn more by serving clients better. When higher output becomes the overriding measure, the industry risks rewarding the transaction while overlooking the judgement behind it.
The best evidence of effective training will appear in the work: informed advice, sound decisions and clients who understand what they are agreeing to.
Property Noise commentary and analysis. Regulatory requirements and published statistics are attributed to REA; agency training descriptions are attributed to the respective networks. This article does not allege misconduct by any named agency.
More coverage: Real estate agent news from Property Noise.