Archive for May, 2010

The Ray White Group is pleased to be able to offer those who are considering a career in Real Estate an insight into the Ray White Group through its members site.

Please click here for the access information to the Ray White members site

Ray White Herald on Sunday Lift Out

The Ray White Group is pleased to present, in conjunction with APN, our 48 page property lift-out that will be appearing in the Herald on Sunday this weekend 30th May 2010. This is the sixth of our feature lift-outs and has 130 properties displayed on behalf of our vendor clients throughout New Zealand.

Alongside the lift-out we present the Ray White e-book  which is available for our agency business and their clients to distribute through to databases, family and friends.  Ray White prides itself on its ability to provide innovation in marketing and also to offer value through its various marketing mediums, including media, websites, property signage and our own internal client databases.

The Herald on Sunday is the leading Sunday media and is distributed throughout the North Island with a readership of over 382,000. We welcome all enquiries to be part of these outstanding marketing opportunities.

We are pleased to advise the cover of our upcoming lift out of the NZ Herald on Sunday edition to be publish on Sunday the 30th of May 2010.

The cover is taken from Milford Sound in the South Isalnd of New Zealand. Please click here to view the cover.

By Bernard Hickey

1. Personal tax cuts from October 1, 2010:
NZ$0-$14,000, currently on 12.5%, will be on 10.5%
NZ$14,001-$48,000: currently on 21%, will be on 17.5%
NZ$48,001-$70,000: currently on 33%, will be on 30%
NZ$70,001 and over: currently on 38%, will be on 33%

Work out your personal tax saving here

2. The company tax rate will be lowered from 30% to 28% on April 1, 2011

3. Depreciation:
No depreciation deductions will be allowed for buildings with an estimated useful life value of 50 years or more (such as rental and office buildings).
Businesses will no longer be able to claim 20% accelerated depreciation on new plant and equipment. This change will apply to assets purchased after budget day. The old rules will continue to apply for assets purchased before this date.

4. Working for Families
People will no longer be able to use investment losses, including from rental properties, to reduce their income and become eligible for Working for Families, from April 1, 2011.
New rules will also end the automatic CPI indexation of the abatement threshold to stop higher-income recipients getting bigger increases than those on lower incomes.

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The Ray White Group in New Zealand is pleased to announce the opening of their 134^th office in Sandringham.  The office forms part of the Goodwin Group, who now has five offices with Ray White throughout the inner western suburbs of Auckland.  Ashley Goodwin, Principal Officer of Goodwin Realty, said “The opening was part of their strategic plan for growth and that the office is a natural extension of their market leading and long established Mt Albert business.” He went on to say “It also provides the ability for the business to have a longer reach as the Sandringham area continues to grow in popularity for sales and rental property.”  To read the full story please click here

Wanganui – May 2010
This week heralds the opening of a new business to serve local buyers and sellers of homes – Ray White Wanganui. The new office, the latest in the leading national agency’s 133-branch chain, is the new incarnation of Hocquard Realty, a long-time Wanganui family business founded by Laurie Hocquard 15 years ago.

Laurie’s son Tim, the office’s director, says the switch to Ray White was not a decision taken lightly. “It offers our business the opportunity to grow, with the expansion of the brand and their assistance in adding quality staff. In our view, Ray White is a more forward thinking agency than its competitors, and the fact that it has a very good support team appealed to us, along with its strong presence in New Zealand and Australia and that it is a family-orientated, hands-on business.

Joining the office’s 10 existing staff with the switch to Ray White will be a new sales manager, Doug Lacy, whose 26-year real estate career includes experience with Ray White and a record as a top salesperson in the area. Also entering the team is Margot Whetton as branch manager; she has been in the industry for 11 years and was formerly a branch manager for PGG Wrightson. To read the full story please click here.

In one of the most significant developments in the Australian marine industry, renowned real estate company the Ray White Group has announced its foray into the bustling sector with the establishment of Ray White Marine. 
   

The new entity is a joint venture between Andrew and Greg Bell, directors of Queensland’s largest real estate firm the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group, and Marina Oceanus, owners of the exclusive Marina Mirage marina on the Gold Coast.   

The exciting new Ray White Marine operation will tap into the multi-million dollar marine sales industry and will oversee the auction and sale of marinas and marine vessels throughout Australia. It is the first time any real estate agency has undertaken a comprehensive strategy to sell and market boats and marinas.  The recently established entity is a major step forward for the Ray White Group, marking the privately-owned company’s first venture into the marine industry.   

 Ray White Group Deputy Chairman Sam White said the establishment of Ray White Marine is an exciting development for the Group.   

 “We believe that the sales templates and processes we have developed in a highly competitive real estate market can be applicable to other classes – our structure can work particularly well in the marine industry,” said Mr White.   

Andrew Bell says the move will provide a conduit for buyers, sellers and boat dealers on a scale rarely seen.    “This new entity will revolutionise the industry and allow for the marketing, auctioning and brokering of vessels and berths on a level that has never been offered in the Australian marine industry,” Mr Bell said. “We are establishing a national body that will provide sellers unprecedented exposure to a broad market via an intensive auction campaign as well as access to our vast network.     

“Ray White Marine will have direct access to our database which boasts over 700,000 members as well as access to our full time creative staff and will be included in Ray White’s prestige and commercial magazines with a local, national and international distribution.     

“In addition, Ray White Marine will have a presence at Marina Oceanus at Marina Mirage, Tedder Avenue as well as Orchid Avenue and other selected Ray White offices to deliver both a greater level of enquiry and faster rate of sale.   

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The Ray White Group has 14 offices in the Central Auckland zone and this group of business owners meet every fortnight to discuss their collective marketing and their drive to gain market share in their respective trade areas.  The past 12 months has seen our Central market share lift and this has been on the back of increased marketing through ACP and APN, together with new offices in Royal Oak, Mt Eden Village and just opened in Sandringham.  Last Friday we released our first 1/4 market share results and the Group now has 16 trade areas above 25%.  The following areas show where Ray White has market share above 25% in the central area of Auckland.

These collective markets total $1.65 billion and for the Ray White Group this is an increase in real terms of 15%.  The largest market in Auckland for sales numbers is Auckland Central and takes in all of the city apartment market where Ray White City Apartments is considered to be the market leader.  For the month of April 2010 the Ponsonby office completed in excess of $20 million in sales with the Kohimarama and Ellerslie offices featuring in the top five national Ray White offices.

Ray White has developed real time market information for buyers and sellers across all areas of New Zealand.  Each Ray White office has access to this information and it can be provided on request.  Ray White has 133 offices throughout New Zealand with 1,345 salespeople and 183 property managers.  To request real time market information please email swatson@raywhite.com

The Ray White Group saw a reduced number of sales for April 2010 of 9% in comparison to the April results in 2009.  In comparison to last month, property sales fell by 12%. 

The top offices for the month included Ponsonby who completed close to $20 million in sales turnover, Kohimarama, Manukau, Howick and Ellerslie.  Offices that achieved the highest zone area increase included Kerikeri, Hamilton City, Palmerston North, Mapua, Merivale and Invercargill. Our marketing presence increased by 13% and this is measured on the overall presence in key media throughout New Zealand. 

The lower volume of sales is attributed to Easter and the school holiday period through April, and while the results in the listing stock saw an increase from 12 months ago of 12% it was a reduction of almost 19% on March 2010.  The number of new listings linked to the lower level of sales volume continues to show a consistent market for buyers and for sellers.  The Ray White Group results were in line with the reporting from realestate.co.nz which has shown in their Property Report for April 2010 that listings fell by 15% to 12,225 from last month and from the same time last year increased by 17%.

With the Budget announcement on 20th May 2010 we are expecting that there is a tightening on investment property but this will be balanced by favourable first home incentives together with an easing of the monetary policy, which will allow banks more discretion at the time of lending.