Recent survey results have shown Harcourts' clients are clearly impressed with their experience of New Zealand's largest real estate group, with the vast majority of respondents in the past quarter indicating they would recommend Harcourts to others.

According to surveys in May, June and July of buyers and sellers who had completed a transaction with Harcourts New Zealand in the previous month, the group's offices and agents, and the marketing material they produce, are all rated highly - leading to more than 90% of respondents indicating they would recommend Harcourts to others.

As Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan explains, the excellent recommendation result reflects the positive feedback on Harcourts' Sales Consultants in all of the areas surveyed including: delivering on their promises, regularity of contact, local area knowledge, professionalism, understanding of clients' requirements and negotiation skills.

"The levels of customer satisfaction shown in the survey results are a testament to the talent and hard work of the professional team who deliver 'The Harcourts Way'."

Mr Duncan says it was interesting to learn from the latest survey results that sellers are being offered more marketing options than at the same time last year, with the greatest increase being in the presentation of website upgrades and virtual tours, and that auctions are also being more heavily and effectively promoted - which he suggests has contributed to the increase in the percentage of vendors making a financial contribution to marketing their property.

"The latest survey results along with Harcourts' auction listings statistics and anecdotal feedback too confirm sellers are increasingly recognising the benefits of the auction method of sale. In addition, they are realising that in order to ensure their property stands out from the competition they need to invest in marketing," Mr Duncan says.

"As evidence of this, more than 85% of the sellers Harcourts Eden-Epsom office has worked for over the past year have chosen to auction their property and also paid for marketing, with the recent sale of 87 The Drive in Epsom under the hammer for well in excess of the vendors' expectations being just one recent example of the results being achieved via the auction process."

In terms of buyers, it was interesting to note that nearly 20% of purchasers said they found out about the property they bought through a Harcourts agent contacting them, Mr Duncan says.

"At 19.6% this was first equal with 'other website' and closely followed by the Harcourts website at 17.4%, with 'local property publication' next," he says.

"These results align closely with those on buyers' searching behaviour, with the recent surveys finding websites are the most popular hunting ground, though local property publications and local newspapers are still popular and a significant 23.9% said they most consistently used their local agent as the source of property for sale."

Mr Duncan says the latest survey results confirmed that "having a personal connection" with a sales consultant is the most important factor for sellers when choosing their agent, followed by the agent's marketshare and area knowledge along with the company's local market presence. Previous experience with Harcourts and the Harcourts' brand also ranked highly in sellers' considerations, as did referrals from friends or family.