By Lucy Xia of RNZ
A high-profile Auckland real estate agent has been given a formal warning by her employer after posting a TikTok video of herself giving a sales pitch using a fake Asian accent.
Award-winning Ray White real estate agent Linh Yee, who is of Asian descent, also said in the video that she will do cleaning and cooking for potential buyers.
The video circulated for more than a week before it was removed, following a complaint.
While Yee spoke fluently in an official video promoting a Sandringham house, she took on a different persona in a TikTok video marketing the same property, where she called herself “Lingling” and effected an Asian accent.
The video showed Yee walking through the property, offering to do a range of household chores for potential buyers — including sweeping the deck, and crouching down to clean the floor.
“You pay me good price, I also get dirty for you, see — I clean,” she said.
She also wandered to the kitchen and said: “And when I sell your home good price, I also make you good dinner, see, peanut butter jelly, I make for you.”
The video ended with the agent saying “love you long time” — a line from the movie Full Metal Jacket in which a Vietnamese sex worker solicited American soldiers.
An Auckland woman who complained to Ray White said she felt deeply offended by the video.
“I feel like what she was doing really proliferates stereotypes against Southeast Asian women, and as someone who is of Asian descent, it was just really disappointing and sad to see,” she said.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said it normalised racism.
“This is leading to more acceptance and apathy on normalising racism in our society, and it is quite disappointing to see that Ray White doesn’t really have any formal procedures and policies for their real estate agents, to basically be posting anything they want in social media.”
She said she felt there was a wider issue of racism in New Zealand, and it was a “dark underbelly of our culture” that was not being talked about enough.
Yee would not do a recorded audio interview, but told RNZ she had no idea how much the video would offend people.
“I’m so embarrassed about what’s really going on, I’m still letting it sort of absorb in, I really, really didn’t even have any idea how much this is actually gonna offend people, when all I was doing was mocking and teasing myself,” she said.
She said on reflection she realised speaking English with a fake Asian accent was wrong and had taken down the video.
“My intention was never to cause harm or discomfort to anyone, but rather to share a light-hearted moment of self-expression and humour. However, I now understand that my actions were culturally insensitive and perpetuated harmful stereotypes,” she said.
Linh Yee said she was “truly sorry”.
“Moving forward, I am committed to educating myself and being more mindful of the impact of my words and actions. I understand that words alone cannot undo the hurt caused, but I hope to demonstrate through my future behaviour a genuine commitment to learning and growth,” she said.
Ray White Epsom director Nick Lyus said Yee has been given a formal warning about the video, which was taken down as soon as the company was made aware of it.
He said the company was committed to giving all its employees cultural sensitivity and anti-discrimination training.
Ray White said it did not vet all its staff’s social media posts, but did monitor them regularly.
Occupiers moved on to a property on Ahipara’s Wharo Way in October 2021, after a significant pohutukawa tree they believed had been protected by being placed in a reserve was not protected at all.
Kaitāia GP Cecil Williams is thinking about leaving the town after 35 years, after being “forced” to sell his property, which had been occupied by a local iwi, for about $130,000 less than its Quotable Value.
Williams’ property at 1 Wharo Way, Ahipara, was first occupied in October 2021 by members of Te Rarawa who were unhappy that a culturally significant pōhutukawa on the property had been partly felled for a house site.
The iwi members were angry because they were led to believe the tree had been included in a reserve at the front of the land when it was subdivided. However, the reserve was later made smaller and the tree included in the property at 1 Wharo Way that the Williamses bought.
The iwi members felt betrayed over what were assurances the culturally significant site at Ahipara would be fully protected as a public reserve.
Williams said he and his wife, Marna, checked when they bought the section that there were no land claims or any other issues with it, and after being assured there were none, bought it for $500,000. The tree was not listed as protected or significant on the council’s website.
He said they were the innocent parties in the debacle and had done nothing wrong, yet were seriously out of pocket due to no actions of their own.
The land was occupied for almost a year before Far North District Council, in an effort to solve the impasse, agreed to buy the land from the Williamses.
At its August meeting where it agreed to buy the land, Kahika/Mayor Moko Tepania acknowledged that historic actions had seen undertakings to protect 1 Wharo Way broken. While the council would never be a default Office of Treaty Settlements, it had acknowledged there were special circumstances that led to the motion for council to negotiate the purchase of the land supported, he said.
Williams said the couple were caught in a fait accompli as they had to sell the land to the council because nobody else would buy a property that was being occupied and under such dispute.
“Who would buy land that was being occupied and nothing was being done to move the occupiers off?”
The couple are angry and upset that they had to settle with the council for $437,500 for the land when the QV valuation a year earlier was for $560,000, and feel they had no choice but to sell, given that nobody else would buy it.
At the start of the occupation, Williams offered to sell the land to Te Rarawa, or the council for the $500,000 they paid for it, and is now upset they are out of pocket by so much.
“It’s prime waterfront land, but the council’s independent valuation in September last year said it was only worth $400,000. Yet the council’s own Quotable Value in October the year before said the property was worth $560,000. I know prices have dropped a bit, but I can’t see how such a piece of coastal land has dropped by $160,000 in a year. That’s hard to take.”
FNDC has been approached for comment, but had not responded by publishing time.
Williams said the property was to be where they built their dream home to retire, but after 35 years as a GP in Kaitāia, the saga had left such a sour taste that they were seriously considering selling up their other property and moving away.
“It’s hard enough as it is to get GPs up here, but this has really hit us hard. The stress and the anxiety this has caused us, the sleepless nights and worry have been unbearable. Through no fault of our own we have now had to take a huge financial hit, and I’m upset that after all these years helping this community, we’ve had such little support and are seen as the bad guys.”
He said they were not aware the pōhutukawa was supposed to be protected or that it was supposed to have been on a reserve; had they known, they would not have bought the land in the first place.
Williams acknowledged he had stopped paying rates on the land from when the occupiers moved in because he was unable to use the land, and neither the council nor police would move the protesters off. The roughly $8000 outstanding rates were paid from the property sale price to the council.
Mike Dinsdale is the editor of the Northland Age who also covers general news for the Advocate. He has worked in Northland for almost 34 years and loves the region.
The average price of a house in Rotorua has risen to $746,000 after the city’s average residential property values increased by 0.4 per cent in three months.
According to the latest data from the OneRoof Valocity House Value Index, taken at the end of January, property values across the country are up by 0.9 per cent compared to three months ago.
OneRoof’s latest House Price Report showed property values were up quarter-on-quarter in 90 per cent of suburbs nationwide, with the biggest quarterly lifts in Arrowtown, Mataura and Whitford.
Of the 793 suburbs with 20-plus settled sales in the last 12 months, more than 40 per cent saw year-on-year value lifts, reflecting the turnaround in the market.
Rotorua suburbs with more than 20 settled sales in the year ending January 31 included Hamurana, where property values increased by 2.1 per cent in the last three months to $1.23 million.
Western Heights saw the second-highest three-month increase in suburb property value, a difference of 2 per cent.
Rotorua Professionals McDowell Real Estate principal and auctioneer Steve Lovegrove said the post-summer, early autumn season was normally a busy one for real estate.
“The good news for everybody is that prices seem to be mostly stable, certainly not going backwards and probably increasing,” Lovegrove told the Rotorua Daily Post.
“We are starting to see the green shoots of property price increases.”
Lovegrove said there was also a lift in the stock available.
“So buyers do have a little more choice and less need to act urgently. We’re seeing a little bit of lag in decision-making and a significant lift in buyers actively entering the marketplace.”
Lovegrove said there was more competition for properties in the $500,000 to $700,000 value range.
“Anything just below that average price is getting hit quite hard with active buyers, mostly first-home buyers.”
Lovegrove said there was also a trend of people looking to downsize which also saw more buyers looking in the lower price ranges.
“There’s a lot of confidence, a positive vibe and a positive outlook looking forward. We’re not expecting a rapid price increase. We are expecting simply more confidence.”
Tremains central region general manager Stuart Christensen said there was more property coming onto the market.
“More people have decided to make a move. Westpac dropped their interest rates on Friday. All those are encouraging signs,” Christensen said.
“We are seeing an increasing number of people at our open homes. So there’s appetite to come out and a good number of first-home buyers are out there.”
Christensen said first-home buyers did have a window to make their decisions, however, as investors were coming gradually back into the market as well.
“Overall there’s a lot more positivity. It’s a new year. People are out looking for a move whether they are upsizing, downsizing or entering the market for the first time.”
The news comes after New Zealand’s average property value grew just 0.9 per cent in the three months to the end of November to $973,000, as buyers retreated from the market after a busy November and October.
Valocity global chief executive of real estate Helen O’Sullivan said sales volumes in December were lower than had been anticipated, given the lift in October and November, although they were up year-on-year.
Valocity data showed mortgages registered to first-home buyers in the last quarter of the year dipped to 44 per cent from the five-year high of 45 per cent the previous quarter. Mortgages registered to investors increased slightly from 22.4 per cent to 23.6 per cent over the same period.
O’Sullivan said the Reserve Bank’s announcement around debt-to-income ratios was unlikely to have an impact on the current market.
“The proposed settings are not expected to make a significant difference to prices or activity levels in the current high-interest rate environment,” she said.
“When interest rates are lower, [debt-to-income ratios] will limit the level of debt borrowers can assume despite being able to service the debt.”
Maryana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times. She covers local issues, health and crime.