Trass trashes REINZ

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A war of words has erupted between SuburbWatch's Kieran Trass and the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) after Trass attacked REINZ in the wake of the release of its March data.

Monday, April 18th 2011, 12:00AM 2 Comments

by The Landlord

In an email sent shortly after the release Trass said "the author's opinion on the current state of the market is either extremely naive or deliberately misleading."

His initial ire was aimed at reports on the REINZ data in the media, including the New Zealand Herald, which Trass claimed were "full of errors and the commentary is misleading."

REINZ  CEO Helen O'Sullivan claimed the mistakes outlined by Trass were a result of editing errors at the Herald and not attributable to REINZ.

"The New Zealand Herald article on which the Trass release is based included a number of editing errors and so the lies and untruths which Trass was so kind to attribute to us were actually sub editing errors on the part of the Herald," she said.

O'Sullivan maintained "our press release was correct and factual" and said she was disappointed by Trass's comments.

"It does not sit well with us to be accused of attempting to mislead the public," she said.

Trass acknowledged mistakes were made by the Herald - confirmed by the papers property editor Anne Gibson - but insisted REINZ had done nothing to correct errors in other media reports, and that it was one of a number of ‘vested interests' benefitting from an overly confident picture of the housing market.

"Helen O'Sullivan can say all she likes that they have not done anything wrong but surely it is their responsibility to make sure that what they're reporting is not getting distorted and sent out through the media," Trass said.

"Why aren't they reining this in? Why aren't they saying hang on, stop lying about our information. No, dead silence. It actually suits their purpose that people misunderstand this information."

"All these people have got vested interests, that's why I'm taking the stand I'm taking - you know what my vested interest is and always has been? Just paint it like it is, that's it. Good, bad or ugly, just tell the story."

O'Sullivan said as far as REINZ was concerned the issue was over after the Herald amended its article, and while she said she did not want to get drawn into a spat with Trass, "we certainly are considering our options about the allegations made."

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