A nationwide survey by Real Estate Institute of NZ shows that priorities have shifted for the industry as a whole and contending with changing regulation has become a top priority.
Economic conditions and an ageing population also rank highly.
Fifty-nine percent of the 1861 real estate professionals surveyed said regulations against money laundering and changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, were top of mind.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said other issues included the ban on letting fees, negative gearing, asbestos, methamphetamine and a ban on foreign buyers.
''The real estate industry has had to deal with more legislative changes in the last two years than we've dealt with in the five years prior.
''This has involved a significant level of upskilling across the industry, as well as the implementation of new technology systems and processes; all of which require an investment which comes at a cost,'' Ms Norwell said.
Second on the list of issues that could have the greatest impact on the real estate industry are global economic conditions, with 53% of respondents citing this as a concern, up slightly from 52% in 2017.
This was followed closely by New Zealand's ageing population.
Other trends viewed as having the greatest impact on the real estate industry are people moving from larger cities to small towns (50% down from 52%), immigration (39% down significantly from 65% in 2017) and more apartments/terraced houses being built (36% down from 43%).
''When we last surveyed the profession in 2017, the issue that the industry felt could have the greatest impact was interest rates, with 69% of respondents citing that as their top trend. As interest rates have continued to fall over the last two years, it's now ninth on the list,'' she said.
