The refresh reflects how the real estate industry continues to evolve. Since last year's Awards, we’ve listened to feedback from members and the industry and these changes reflect their input to ensure the awards remain clear, relevant and representative of how professionals work today.
For most categories, entry requirements are the same as in previous years.
For Residential Property Management categories, the format has changed to include more standardised, comparable, and measurable information – however, this is information RPM members should be able to readily access from the property management software systems they use.
No. The overall submission process remains the same.
In most categories, no – it’s the same information as in previous years (for example, total gross commission or total sales volume remain key metrics for most real estate sales awards).
RPM categories will include more comparable measurable quantitative information from this year onwards, but this is information RPM members should already hold in their systems.
Yes. Several new categories have been introduced for 2026 to provide new opportunities to recognise outstanding achievements within the industry and better reflect how people and businesses operate today.
Examples include:
Sales Partnership of the Year (Residential, Rural and C&I), recognising two salespeople who work as partners or an individual working with one licensed PA
Sales Team of the Year (Residential and Rural), recognising multi-person teams of 3+
Deal of the Year awards in Commercial & Industrial and Business Broking
Supreme Sales Performance of the Year – All real estate sales Disciplines
New culture and community-focused awards, including a Staff Wellbeing Award
New Franchise of the Year Award to complement the Agency of the Year Awards
A full summary of new and updated categories is provided in New Awards.
New categories reflect the way real estate businesses operate today and recognise areas of achievement that were not previously captured, including partnerships, teams, transactions and workplace culture.
Criteria have been clarified and refined in some categories to support consistency and transparency, and help ensure entrants understand which category they are eligible to enter. The overall judging framework and independent assessment process remain in place.
The awards continue to be independently judged, with strengthened verification and auditing processes supporting consistent and robust assessment across all entries.
Yes, Previous winners are welcome to enter again, provided they meet the eligibility criteria for the relevant category. Eligibility for the Rising Star categories means this category can only be entered once.
Clear category criteria, FAQs and entry guidance are available on this website. More information about submitting an entry will be available closer to May when entries open, and we’ll share further reminders and updates as well.
Yes. A nominal fee of $25 + GST per submission applies from 2026, to support judging and verification processes. The following categories remain exempt from the entry fee:
Community Service Awards
Staff Wellbeing Award
Award for Outstanding Contributions to the RPM Sector
Based on industry feedback, the Sustainability Award has been removed for 2026 to allow greater focus on higher-participation categories. It is possible that a particularly impactful and innovative sustainability initiative that has impact on the wider community could be entered in the Innovation or Community Service Initiative Awards.
Before submitting your entry, please take the time to read the 2026 Awards Terms and Conditions carefully (these will be published on this site by late March). By submitting, you’re confirming that you understand the eligibility and category requirements.
It’s important to ensure everything is clear before you submit, as we’re unable to enter into further correspondence about eligibility, interpretation of the Terms and Conditions, or judging decisions once entries have been received. All judging decisions are final.
No. Once an entry has been submitted, requests for clarification, appeals, or further correspondence will not be accepted in relation to eligibility, interpretation of the Awards Terms and Conditions, or judging decisions. All judging decisions are final.
Entries open in early May. Further details on key dates will be released soon.
Watch this space! We’ll be adding more content to this website, and sending more emails to REINZ members, over March and April, in the lead up to entries opening in early May.