Our Group stands at 131 offices with just over 1,180 salespeople, 220 property managers and 145 administrators. This year our sales turnover increased by 12%, which saw us transact $3.895 billion in property sales. Our property management portfolio has grown beyond 14,000 and our market share, particularly in the last quarter, has shown good growth across many of the areas we trade.

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The number of sales that will occur within the industry will be 58,000 for the year and will be in line with 2010. The amount of property that has been marketed for sale has dropped by 10% during the year. This has effectively resulted in lower days on market and price increases across most centres throughout New Zealand. Productivity levels for our top 20 businesses increased by 23.8%. There was one interest rate reduction of .5% in March. The official cash interest rate has remained at 2.5% during 2011 and is expected to remain at the same level throughout 2012.

During the year we remained committed to the three pillars of our business growth, being marketing, personal skills and growth. Our marketing platform has seen us redesign our online presence and we have applied a number of superior applications which sees us continue to lead the industry.  Personal websites were also introduced during the year.  We have rebranded our marketing through the media to present further enhanced property presentation. This is now fully integrated with all publishers.

The growth of the company has been evident with the number of new offices that have joined and there have also been several high profile salespeople join Ray White from other companies.

Within this year’s Christmas message we make reference to the significant events that occurred in 2011 throughout New Zealand. To our people and their communities who have been affected by these events, we pay tribute to you.

Our Group will finish the 2011 year in very good shape. The industry continues to polarise.  The significant reinvestment that is required to be a leader in this market is our commitment. 2012 will be a year of continued growth as we enable our plan for genuine leadership.

On behalf of the Ray White corporate team and the White Family, we wish all of our members and their families a relaxed Christmas break and look forward to a successful 2012.

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These marketing incentives are in place over the first two weeks of November and are available for any individual property that is promoted through a Ray White  media partner.

For further information please contact any individual Ray White salesperson, who will provide full details of the marketing incentives available.

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The symposium focused on the development of the Ray White New Zealand strategy for the group. In more recent times the Group has gone through a considerable growth phase, with a new office joining the network every month over the past two years and this has accelerated in more recent times.  The symposium also covered the area of opportunity for the business owners, with presentations from John Wall of Talent 2 and Steve D’Souza, the owner of the Kalamazoo Group.

Another topical presentation included a debate between Greg Hornblow, General Manager of APN, and Brendon Skipper, head of Trade Me Property.  The use of marketing platforms remains the main driver of lead generation for property sales and the value of both online and offline marketing is seen to be important in the total marketing mix.

During the Symposium, New Zealand Chief Executive Carey Smith detailed the growth plans for the Ray White Group, which is aligned with the current activity the Group is undertaking. He announced the company had more members join and commit to the Ray White Group than ever before; with seven offices opening in the next four weeks, including Sunnynook, Mt Albert, Hamilton City, Matamata, Whangarei, Bream Bay and Tutakaka. He also said that there was considerable interest from five other markets in which the Group is looking to have presence.

The overall commitment of the Ray White Group to growing market share was expressed as the real estate industry continues to polarise. Ray White see that providing the very best technology and business services to its franchise owners as the cornerstone of its continued success.

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Craig Prier, who hosted the evening, said he was overwhelmed by the response.  “Initially we thought we would have 20 to 30 people turn up and when we realised the interest in the evening was far greater than we anticipated we had to move to a bigger venue, with the numbers on the night totaling close to 200 people with standing room only.”

Rea Manson, co-owner of Prier Manson Real Estate said that a lot of home owners were keen to learn about the state of the market, if their property was still saleable and more importantly where buyers would come from to have purchase in the local area.

The collation of speakers agreed that there are a number of stakeholders that need to be part of each transaction so that sales will occur. With the recent government announcements giving more transparency to those throughout Christchurch then it would provide the answer to the question that each property is saleable despite any damage that may have occurred.

For further information on the evening or to get an update on the status of property in the Eastern Suburbs please contact Craig Prier at Prier Manson Real Estate.

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He said that the combination of his leadership style and the values of Ray White fit perfectly.  “The progress that is continually made with technology is the best in the industry and that is consistently demonstrated on all levels within the Group.”  He went on to say that Proven Realty Limited has experienced strong growth over the last 12 months and this has positioned the business to look further into growth strategies going forward.

Carey Smith, Chief Executive of Ray White New Zealand, said “Peter’s business is a very important one for the Ray White Group. The Dunedin and Mosgiel areas have shown consistent turnover in a diversified market.  The way Proven Realty has been structured fits with the market sales for the area. Peter is looking for further growth in the area and this aligns with our growth policy across our group.”

Ray White Dunedin and Mosgiel have a collective team of 25.  As part of the new website developments they have both of their local sites enabled rwdunedin.co.nz and rwmosgiel.co.nz.

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Margaret Simpson, licensee agent for Core Group Realty Limited, said that they are excited to take on the ownership of Ray White Epsom. “The experience of the leadership team will allow the business to focus on the marketing and selling of real estate throughout Epsom, Parnell and surrounding suburbs. Having Robin and Linda as shareholders and active salespeople will add a further dimension to our business.”

Robin McDowall has a highly experienced sales background throughout the inner eastern suburbs.  Linda Galbraith has been operating as a high profile salesperson for over 20 years, consistently achieving successful results in the high-end market.

Carey Smith, NZ Chief Executive, said he welcomed the new owners to the Group.  “Having Margaret, Robin and Linda as franchise owners with the Ray White Group will allow for further growth in sales throughout the Epsom, Parnell and surrounding suburbs.  Linda Galbraith in particular has a high profile in the high-end market and will add to the strengths that both Robin McDowall and Margaret Simpson bring to the leadership team of Ray White Epsom.”

The Ray White Epsom franchise was under the previous ownership of Pat and Mary Taylor, who will continue as Ray White members through the rental division.  The new ownership of the Ray White Epsom office takes place on 1^st June 2011.

This quarter in Auckland breakfasts were held on the North Shore and in Central Auckland.  The Central and Lower North Island came together in Taupo. In the South Island; Canterbury celebrated with an awards night in central Christchurch, with the Upper South Island and the Lower South Island having localised awards for their zones.

Pictured above is City Apartments business owner Phil Horrobin, the recipient of the number two sales turnover and business growth office in Auckland.

Corinna Mansell, National Performance Manager said “Awards are an important part of the Ray White culture; they recognise quality and results for each of our members. Our Group continually strives to achieve excellence in our sales and property management businesses and the awards go part way in the measurement of that recognition.”

Downes said that offers would be requested from some 20 or so pre-qualified prospects inviting them to participate in the process. Since his last Soho sale tender round a year ago, which did not produce an acceptable offer, the Receivers’ focus had been on obtaining an enhanced consent, allowing for a much larger development on the site. The enhanced consent was granted on 29 March 2011, which allows for a 45,348 square metre gross floor area mixed use development on the site (up from 32,286 square metre GFA) .

Downes said that the enhanced consent set the stage for a fresh sales campaign. Given the  level of interest shown in Soho from a number of potential developers and his view on the recent increased activity in the commercial property market, Downes is confident that, this time, Soho will be sold.

For a full Information Memorandum on SOHO Square, please contact

Brendan Keenan Senior Analyst Ray White Commercial brendan.keenan@raywhite.com 0r +64 21 161 3882

For information regarding the sale of  SOHO Square, please contact

Bruce Whillans Director Ray White Commercial bruce.whillans@raywhite.com 0r +64 21 985 619

This is displayed on an info-graphic platform and gives the reader real-time information regarding each marketplace, or a collection of marketplaces, based on the current month’s sales numbers and volume in comparison to the previous 12 months.  It also shows the number of sales in price banding throughout the previous 12 months.  The top value sale in the previous month is also shown.

The info-graphic market update report is available from every Ray White office.  Please click here for example reports of Remuera, Tauranga and Raglan.