Agent sacked after Chinese buyers furore back on job

Grant Hargrave.

House-price explosion can't be blamed on foreign-based Asian buyers, experts tell Diana Clement.

The real estate agent sacked after the Labour Party was leaked confidential sales data on Asian buyers is back in the Auckland property market.

Grant Hargrave has a new job selling real estate with Harcourts after a high-profile dumping in July from Barfoot & Thompson.

Hargrave was given his marching orders during a political firestorm, accused of leaking sales data to Labour, whose spokesperson for housing and Auckland issues, Phil Twyford, claimed the high count of Chinese names was proof Auckland's overcooked market was being stoked by offshore investors.

Hargrave has denied any involvement with the leak.

Yesterday he would not talk about his new job when contacted by the Herald on Sunday.

But his boss, Harcourts chief executive Hayden Duncan, said he was now a valued member of staff.

"Grant's working with us now and we're very comfortable with him and his history. He's one of the best in the country and is not a concern in any way, shape or form," he said.

"We take private information very seriously and have rules in place around it.

"After a continued investigation, our systems mean there will be no issues at all. It was only an allegation and we don't believe there was anything in it at all."

Barfoot & Thompson chief executive Wendy Alexander said she was aware Hargrave had a new job. She did not believe her company had provided a reference for him.

"I have no reason to believe we gave him one," she said.

Hargrave's new online profile describes him as being "at the top of his game" with "an excellent reputation and a long list of clients".

Twyford yesterday declined to comment on Hargrave's new role.

This week it emerged the Government had rejected an overseas investment offer for Lochinver Station, a 13,843ha farm near Taupo.

Pure 100 Farm Ltd - a subsidiary of Chinese-owned Shanghai Pengxin - had offered $71 million, but Overseas Investment Office documents revealed ministers Paula Bennett and Louise Upston had knocked back a deal.