Ray White has announced the appointment of its first ever Chief Economist, with Nerida Conisbee set to start in the newly-created role in June.
Ms Conisbee is a highly regarded economist, with a specific expertise in residential and commercial property and is currently the most quoted property commentator in Australia, as well as a sought-after public speaker, writer and columnist.
For the past five years, Ms Conisbee has been the Chief Economist for the REA Group and she is also the Deputy Chair of the Construction Forecasting Council and a member of the Queensland Government’s South East Queensland Housing Supply Expert Panel.
“It was just a great opportunity and I think what really attracted me to the role was the journey that Ray White are on in terms of data and info in particular,” Ms Conisbee told Elite Agent of her decision to accept the new position.
“They have invested a lot in a data science team and they’re doing a lot with their own data, and I love new data sets and messing around with new data sets, so that was exciting, just on that level.”
Ms Conisbee – who obtained a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours and Masters of Commerce, majoring in Econometrics, from the University of Melbourne – was full of praise for the team at REA, saying the role of Chief Economist at her current employer had helped further build her skill set.
“It’s exciting for me to combine what I did at REA with the experience that I got prior to the company,” she said.
“One of the great things about REA is that it has given me the opportunity to develop some really great public-facing skills, so I think that coming to Ray White with not only that very strong data background and a very strong forecasting background, but also having developed good relationships with media, will be really helpful in the role.”
Ray White Group Managing Director Dan White said: “Nerida’s decision to accept the role is a huge endorsement for everyone in the Ray White Group, and helps our customers be informed, not influenced”.
He said Ms Conisbee would enhance the ability for Ray White members to engage in better conversations with their customers on what is happening today across all of the group’s markets.
“By harnessing and interpreting our data, our members will benefit from a better understanding of our insights capacity, and deeper engagement with our market leading digital tools such as our real-time insights in Pulse,” Mr White said.
“Our data insights creates strategic advantages for all our members and differentiates us from other real estate agencies. Nerida will position us as an important voice alongside other specialist data and economic research providers.”
Ms Conisbee said she was looking forward to the opportunity of connecting directly with agents to share her insights.
“One of the things with data is on one hand you can see what’s happening and it’s interesting, but having that anecdotal evidence on the ground is also really helpful and really adds colour to the data,” she said.
“People are not interested in data just for the numbers, they’re interested because of what the implications are of that data, so working with agents with that on-the-ground knowledge is just so valuable, and combining it with what Ray White have been doing in terms of data collection – and collating and analysing the data – is really exciting.”
Mr White said Ms Conisbee’s forthcoming position “directly aligns with our Ray White Now message”.
“She brings with her exceptional analytical and communication skills to broaden our current analysis and explore how we can create better insights for our members and customers,” he said.
Ms Conisbee has more than 20 years’ property research experience throughout the Asia Pacific, covering residential and commercial property from both an investor and occupier’s perspective.
“There has never been a time where there has been more interest and speculation in the property market,” Ms Conisbee said.
“Consumers want real time insights and I am keen to work with Ray White’s members – all 10,000 of them.
“It’s just a really exciting opportunity and I’m really looking forward to joining them.”
