Posts Tagged ‘Ray White Queenstown’

The Ray White Lower South Island members joined together recently in Gore for their annual congress, which this year was hosted by Julie Ryan, South Island Performance Manager for Ray White. Members throughout the Central Otago, Southern Lakes and Southland districts joined together to hear a diverse range of speakers including Karen Gilligan, 2013 Canterbury Elite member; Craig Prier, Ray White Auctioneer of the Year; together with Patricia Love, Group Training Facilitator; Carey Smith, CEO of the Ray White Group; and Julie Ryan.

The focus of the congress was centred on reputation and performance. With the continuing requirement for real estate salespeople to market property and to service vendors at the highest level, topics including capacity, marketing and servicing were high on the agenda at the congress. Julie Ryan said the Lower South Island has grown consistently over the last number of years and there is a high diversification of property on offer throughout the area from high profile locations such as Queenstown and Wanaka through to the Southland District of Invercargill and Gore up to areas including Oamaru and Dunedin which all offer continuing value for those interested in real estate in the Lower South Island. Julie said that like many industries, real estate salespeople have to build trust and relationships with their market and being able to discuss this in an open forum is of benefit to all members.

The Lower South Island Congress is part of the Ray White members value where each of our zones have business owner performance meetings and member network and congress seminars to continue to upskill and develop new techniques.

.

The Ray White Group completed close to $½ billion in property sales for the month of August. This showed an increase of 34% ahead of the same time last year and was 5% up on July 2012. The continuing lift in sales is attributed to the continued repositioning of Canterbury property owners; the consistently lower interest rates as well as the limited number of properties currently available to buyers in the market.

The Auckland zone was again up 36% and this region has shown positive increases every month during 2012. It is the first month listings have positively increased, up by 22% on last month. In Northland the Ray White market share continues to increase, with turnover up by over 100% due to the growth in the Ray White office numbers.The Central North Island region showed a strong increase in auction and controlled listing numbers and turnover was up just over 100%. The Lower North Island showed an increase of 80% with listing stock remaining relatively flat. The Upper South Island decreased in turnover by 9% and this was attributed to the relative lack of stock coming onto the market in this area. The Canterbury region was up by 12% with good listing numbers coming through. The Lower South Island also showed a 54% increase which resulted in listing stock also increasing.

The top five offices for Ray White nationally were Ray White City Apartments who completed over 70 property sales and listed 102 properties. They were also appointed to the release of SugarTree which has over 500 apartments. The Ray White Ponsonby office were number two, completing $20 million in property sales. The Ray White Ellerslie office had an outstanding month, listing 49 properties and completing 34 sales. Ray White Metro in Christchurch unconditionally sold $10.5 million in property; with Ray White Pinehill completing 35 sales for $11 million in turnover.

In Northland, Ray White Whangarei was the top office. In Auckland, other offices outside the top five to feature were Ray White Mt Eden, Ray White Mt Albert and Ray White Royal Oak. The Central North Island had Ray White Hamilton as the top zone office; Ray White Papamoa and Ray White Mill Street in Hamilton also had a good month. Ray White Wellington City and Ray White Palmerston North achieved good sales results in the Lower North Island. In the Upper South Island Ray White Richmond sold close to $8 million in properties. The Canterbury region saw Ray White Metro, Ray White Rolleston, and Ray White Unlimited all complete sales above $7 million. In the Lower South, Ray White Invercargill, Ray White Dunedin, Ray White Queenstown and Ray White Arrowtown showed good results.

Overall the property market in New Zealand will continue to gather momentum as more properties come onto the market through the Ray White Group. The Ray White results reflect market conditions and they also reflect the growth of the Ray White Group, with new offices opening during August in Wanaka, Newlands, Grey Lynn and Broadway.

.

Ray White Queenstown has secured exclusive rights to list the Kawarau Village Apartments, located on a north-facing, sheltered, lakeside site next to the five-star Hilton Queenstown Hotel and the Kawarau Hotel managed by Hilton.

The unique luxury apartments at one of Queenstown’s most stunning locations are to be released onto the real estate market for the first time. Fourteen of the Kawarau Village Apartments will be released at a launch on July 14.

Ray White Queenstown licensee salesperson Cameron Reed said it was a “hugely exciting” new release because the quality of the apartments was outstanding. “This is an absolutely fantastic location, the very best in Queenstown, complemented by superb, brand-new apartments that have never been seen before or been available to purchase,” he said. “They are truly turnkey properties furnished right down to glassware, cutlery and bedding, with a fit-out by Stewart Harris, renowned as one of the foremost interior designers in New Zealand and in the Asia-Pacific region.” He went on to say “The apartments range in size providing up to six bedrooms, and nearly all feature stunning views of the clear waters of Lake Wakatipu, towards the slopes of Coronet Peak, or the towering Remarkables mountain range. “They’re spacious, well thought-out and unique designs, with very little replication of layout due to the configuration of the buildings. They’re an absolute ‘must view’ for local, New Zealand or international buyers who I guarantee will be delighted with the quality of the build and the realistic market values that have been placed on them.”

Mr Reed said buyers would enjoy the Kawarau Village restaurants, bars and café/deli, shops and day spa.

The apartments will be free of any management contracts and there will be a body corporate set up for each building charging what Mr Reed called “very realistic” fees. Each apartment also comes with a minimum one car park.

Ray White Queenstown has opened a sales office at Kawarau Village and has a sales register for interested buyers. On the July 1 launch day there will be display apartments available for people to view.

“We really want people to come and have a look for themselves at the range of apartments on offer,” said Mr Reed. “Some of the larger apartments include a ski drying room, a small office, a media room, or a substantial deck for barbecues or drinks with a view that’s out of this world. While some will fit the bill for local or overseas investors or perhaps holiday accommodation for those seeking the perfect ski and summer holidays getaway, we envisage that some will be lived in full-time and others will suit retirees who will love being able to walk out onto their deck or patio and straight onto a flat lakeside track bathed in sunshine.”

Kawarau Village has everything anyone could need and it’s within walking distance of Remarkables Park shopping centre, has the lake, walking and biking tracks on its doorstep, is a short drive to two world-class golf courses at Jacks Point and Queenstown Golf Course at Kelvin Heights, and has easy access by car, bus or water taxi into central Queenstown. The world-class Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski areas are less than half an hour’s drive away, as are numerous award-winning wineries, and it’s only five minutes from Queenstown Airport.

The April results for the Ray White Group saw a 34% increase on April 2011, however there was a slight decrease of 8% on March 2012. The results across the country saw the Northland zone up almost 95%, Auckland increased by 64%, the Central and Lower North Island by 5%, the Upper South Island results were consistent with last year, while Canterbury was up 41% and the Lower South Island was the only area to show a decrease, being 29%.

The Group’s controlled listings lifted by 19% in the month of April and this was mainly due to an increase in auctions, which are now at a record level. The Group added an additional four offices in April, being Ray White Bishopdale in Canterbury and in the Northland zone the Diane Quinn group of offices joined Ray White, being Paihia, Kaikohe and Kawakawa.

The top office for the month was City Apartments, who completed 87 sales. The Ponsonby office was number two and individually they had a record month with in excess of $25 million in turnover. Ray White Waiheke Island featured as our number three office in the nation, with Ellerslie and Te Atatu having sales which resulted in them being recognised at number four and number five office respectively. The top businesses in each of the zones were Whangarei, Auckland City Apartments, Papamoa, Napier, Richmond in the Upper South Island, Christchurch Metro and Queenstown.

The Ray White Group also increased its number of salespeople and the total number of offices is now 131. Annualised turnover is expected to now be over $5 billion andour property management portfolio has again increased and now stands at 15,800.

.

Bas Smith from Ray White Queenstown along with team members Hayden Key, Jess Simson and Matt Wood recently completed the Godzone Adventure race in held in Queenstown between 7^th – 14^th April.  Their team was called Team RnR Sport.

This is a multi-day, non-stop expedition-style adventure race covering approximately 450km that involved navigation, trekking, mountain biking and kayaking over a vast array of different landscapes. Teams had to pass through a series of mandatory checkpoints along the course, which saw them travelling day and night with the decision to rest and sleep being left solely to the discretion of the teams themselves. The maximum time give to complete the race was 5½ days. Making the challenge just that little bit tougher was the fact that the race was an “unsupported” event, so not only was there no assistance at transition points but teams also had to cook for and feed themselves over the 5 days.

Bas reports that he and his fellow members of Team RnR Sport started the race slow and steady and after two days of racing they felt good, had not gotten lost and were in good shape so they picked up the pace and began moving up through the field.

Only 4 of the 36 teams entered completed the full course. Team RnR Sport came in 3^rd and was the only non professional team in the top group of 4. This is an amazing achievement, particularly given the team had not raced together before and it was Jess’ first multi day race.

 Team RnR Sports stats for this race are quite something:

• 5 days non-stop racing (107 hours)
• 4 hours sleep
• 522km travelled
• 12,182m of ascent
• 3^rd place

Experienced local Queenstown real estate agent Wayne Cafe has taken ownership of the Ray White Frankton real estate business. The busy main road office situated in the Frankton Corner Shopping Zone, was previously owned by the combined Queenstown and Arrowtown Ray White offices. The ownership takeover fits in with Ray White’s national strategy of placing experienced people in key roles ensuring business quality and compliance with the REAA.

Wayne, who for the past year has been managing Ray White Queenstown, is excited about his new move, “working within the Ray White franchise has shown me that it offers the best real estate systems in Australasia”, he says.

The existing offices in Queenstown and Arrowtown will carry on under their current ownerships and with the growing strength of the Frankton operation Ray White will continue to dominate the Wakatipu. “It’s the only brand with 3 offices in the area”, he adds “ and the strong bond between the offices means that sellers get the best exposure for their properties and buyers can one-stop-shop”.

Wayne believes that the next five years will see good times again in real estate and with so many old timers getting out of the industry the door is wide open for new young recruits wanting to learn the ropes. “With Ray White’s brilliant systems at your fingertips and a bright future ahead, there is huge appeal for the next generation to enter the industry right now so recruitment is a top priority for my new business”.

.

Lucia King-Smith is the 10 year old daughter of Bas Smith, one of the partner franchisees of Ray White Queenstown.  Lucia is a keen photographer and is amongst famous company in a national charity drive that is seeing her photo of Moke Lake being auctioned on Trade Me alongside celebrities Dave Dobbyn, Lucy Lawless, Mils Muliaina.

The fundraiser is called ‘Illuminate Our Place’ and is raising awareness about protecting the environment. Each photographer chose their own special place and Lucia said that Moke Lake was an area she grew up in and visits each year with her parents.

The painting is currently being auctioned on Trade Me and closes on 31^st August. Please click here to see the auction and for more information on the proceeds for the auction please go to Ecoya Illuminate