The Ray White Group in New Zealand has bucked the nationwide trend by recording an increase in sales of almost 10 per cent for February, 2010.

Ray White New Zealand CEO Carey Smith said the monthly result contrasted with sales figures released this week by the NZ Real Estate Institute, which reported a decline of 3.8 per cent on the February, 2009, result.

The NZREI figures were also the lowest February sales results since data collection began in 1992.

"These numbers were not consistent with the Ray White Group which showed February sales increased by 9.7 per cent in comparison to the previous 12 months," Mr Smith said.

He said Ray White's increased marketshare and possible inaccuracies with the NZREI figures may explain the contrasting results.

"February traditionally is one of the stronger months for sales and for our group it has been the third or fourth most active month for sales in the year," he said.

"Beyond the actual sales volume number, controlled listings increased by 41 per cent on the previous 12 months.

"The New Zealand Property Report released by realestate.co.nz for February showed that there was a 5000 property increase - 33 per cent in listings across their website during February.

"In addition to this the Real Estate Institute have produced their seasonally adjusted sales figures which shows sales have fallen to an 18 year low with the total sales being 53,540.

"The Ray White Group sees the continued polarisation from an industry point of view with these continued figures halting any potential revenue increase for individual agencies."

Mr Smith said Ray White's 132 offices across New Zealand offered vendors real time market reports for every area in the country.