Monarch Real Estate Limited t/a Harcourts Hamilton

The Supreme Court has upheld a Court of Appeal judgment which found Hamilton-based Monarch Real Estate and its director Brian King were part of an anti-competitive price-fixing agreement with four other Hamilton real estate companies to pass on to vendors the cost of advertising properties on Trade Me. The Auckland High Court ordered Monarch to pay $1.9m for engaging in price-fixing in breach of the Commerce Act.