Archive for June, 2010

In what is considered a major move for Ray White in the Southern Lakes region, the existing business known as Frankton Real Estate will become a member of the Ray White Group on 1^st July.  The office will be well known to those who visit the Southern Lakes District as it is located in a high profile location in the Frankton Shopping Centre, which forms the gateway to Queenstown and also to the international airport.

The current owner of the business Kath Cruickshank will be fully involved in the change-over to Ray White. For the full story please click here

Ray White New Zealand is proud to announce the launch of the Ray White Prestige brand into the New Zealand property market.  The Prestige brand had long been associated with Ray White as leaders in the upper end market on the East Coast of Australia, particularly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, the northern suburbs of Sydney and the  Gold Coast. Ray White Double Bay located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney has successfully completed the highest priced sale of residential property in Australia for 2010 being 18 Carrara Road, Vaucluse.

Ray White has a philosophy of focusing marketing towards the property and this is more evident with the Prestige brand.  With its introduction into the New Zealand market given the value threshold that has been set it will suit higher priced areas of Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and the Lakes District in the lower South Island.  We also see that there will be prestige property from coastal areas. 

The Prestige brand brings a broader base market to the property given that each selected property will be part of the Ray White e-magazine collection that is internationally distributed through a database of 550,000 interested property buyers.  In addition to this it will also be profiled if desired through the key markets internationally which respond directly to prestige property. 

Initially consideration for the Prestige brand will be available only when a property meets a certain criteria and the link to the brand is also exclusive to those who have a considered track record in prestige property or are International Elite Members.

During the first quarter of 2010 Ray White has consistently accounted for 30% of the sales in the prestige market with a number of sales in Orakei, Remuera, Herne Bay and St Mary’s Bay.  We have also had a high percentage of the upper end in the Southern Lakes area particularly in Queenstown and Arrowtown where the Group’s collective marketshare is in excess of 35%. 

As well as being able to profile properties internationally, Ray White is also aware that the majority of buyers of property within the New Zealand prestige market are those people who currently have prestige property of their own.  With this in mind our standards of print media and internet marketing will be at the forefront of ensuring that profile is reached through our marketing to all potential property purchasers in the prestige market.

Ray White expect to have at least 25 appointments in the prestige market during the first 12 months and we are proud to display our first property 12 Eastbourne Road Remuera that has been listed through Megan Jaffe at Remuera in the Prestige livery which has appeared as a double paged feature in this week’s ACP Media Property Press.

Ray White New Zealand trades through 133 offices completing property sales in excess of 4.8bil per annum.

Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard increased the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75% and in doing so foreshadowed further small increases over the next coming months. 

This increase will affect property owners who currently have variable mortgages as the banks will respond with increases which are similar to the rise of the official cash rate.  It is expected however that most homeowners would have factored in this small percentage rise and the rises which are expected to continue during the next 12 months.  In his statement Dr Bollard made reference to the recovery that New Zealand was making in the economy and that although he was cautious in regards to the impact of the looming GST rise he believed that the confidence in the economy should convert to increased profits and stronger balance sheets for many companies.

Most business and service industries while seeing the increase as signalling confidence there was an air of caution in regards to the slowness of the economic growth and the recovery which is expected to be export led rather than consumer driven.  It is expected that the Reserve Bank will continue to steadily increase the cash rate until it hits close to 5% over the next 12 months.  There are two risks which are analysed when increasing the cash rate and that is the inflationary pressures and the return to indebted consumer spending. 

The New Zealand cash rate will be on a gradual path to higher overall interest rates rather than an aggressive path that has been taken by other economies.  The major trading partners of New Zealand throughout Asia and Australia also point to sustained recovery and with this the Reserve Bank trimmed its economic forecast slightly predicting a growth of 3.5% in 2011 which was down from the 4% forecast in March.

In summarising the impact of the interest rate rise on the property market Dr Bollard said that there should be a minimal effect as investors will continue to assess the recent budgetary statement along with the potential of higher returns from rental activity.  Those homeowners who are on variable rates should begin to consider the longer term effect of the rising cash rate and prepare to discuss the financial cost with their financial advisors.

The Ray White Group is pleased to announce the first Premier Members for 2010. 

In a market that has been showing signs of inconsistency through sales numbers and lack of buyer confidence it has always the individual salesperson who feels the degree of the market movement.  Since the new Act came into place for the real estate industry in November last year, salespeople have had to take more responsibility in regards to the way they conduct their activities in the marketplace.  For the best salespeople their success has always been built around trust.  The process of selling real estate involves three parties, the seller, the buyer and the salesperson.  The ability to eeffectively market property on behalf of vendors and to connect a buyer emotionally is the role of the agent. 

Liz Parker is our first Premier member for 2010.  Liz predominantly works on the Hibiscus Coast as is recognised as the number one salesperson throughout the area.  In looking at her activities during the first five months of the year her success has been through high profile marketing and ensuring that her service and follow up is second to none.  Liz made comment that this market requires a lot more activity and on occasions with days on market increasing communicating with vendors is of the utmost importance. 

 There two further members to achieve the Premier status in April this year they are Rohan Thompson from Royal Oak and Steen Nielsen from Burnside. 

The Ray White Group has three status levels for the sales team and this is achieved during each calendar year.  The Elite status is the highest recognition followed by Premier level and Executive.  Our Group currently has just over 400 members who are part of the recognition team and the performance level of the Group continues to lift which is a prime measure of our effectiveness when being entrusted with property sales.

The Ray White Group saw a reduced number of sales for May 2010 of 18% in comparison to the May results in 2009.  In comparison to last month, property sales fell by 9%. 

The top office for the month was Manukau  who completed close to $20 million in sales turnover and listed over 160 properties for the month. Ponsonby were No 2 with Remuera, Albany and Howick featuring as National Top 5 businesses.  Offices that achieved the highest zone area increase included Mangawhai, Hamilton City, Palmerston North, Motueka, Christchurch Commercial and Queenstown. Our marketing presence increased by 18% and this is measured on the overall presence in key media throughout New Zealand. 

The lower volume of sales is attributed to the budget announcement and a general lack of confidence in the investment sector of property. The results in the listing stock saw an increase from 12 months ago of 18%  and ahead by 3% on April 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.  Days on Market are expected to increase while available proeprty levels grow. The Ray White Group results were better than the industry with reporting from realestate.co.nz which has shows in their Property Report for May 2010 that listings fell by 4% to 11,733 from last month and from the same time last year increased by 17%.

The Ray White Group in New Zealand has had 3 new offices opened during the past month. The new offices are Wanganui and Kapiti in the Lower North Island with Sandringham opening in Auckland. The Group now has 134 Offices with 1408 Salespeople and 184 Property Managers.