National

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    Solar energy likely to drive up home values: HTW

    Sustainable homes will see an increase in value as more and more householders take up solar rebates and reduce household energy consumption, according to independent valuer and advisory group Herron Todd White. HTW’s Managing Director in Melbourne, Tony Kelly, said as homeowners continued to take advantage of solar energy rebates and substantially reduced energy costs, the value of their homes…

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  • Barry Plant Group recognises talent in their network at 2018 Awards for Excellence

    Last week, the Barry Plant Group hosted its 2018 Awards for Excellence at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium, with nearly 900 people attending the black-tie event. The Geelong office had an outstanding night as, apart from their star agent Chari Emirzade taking out so many major sales awards, they also won Franchisee of the Year and Property Management Department of the Year,…

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  • Purplebricks evolves Australian offering with new customer experience

    Purplebricks has announced a new service offering and experience for customers in Australia. Purplebricks Global COO Neil Tavender said the network were ‘excited’ about the changes they were implementing and the way it would drive the network forward in Australia. “In recent weeks, Kenny Bruce (Co-founder) and our leadership team have travelled the country to speak with all of our agents…

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    Harcourts International names new Board Members

    Harcourts International has welcomed Susan Rix AM, Tim Keenan and Graham Mirabito to its board of directors, joining current board members Gilbert Enoka, Mike and Irene Green and Paul Wright. “We are very pleased to have Susan, Tim and Graham join our board and look forward to their contributions,” said Mike Green, Managing Director, Harcourts International. “Each is a leader in…

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  • RE/MAX rewards top performing regions at Asia Pacific Convention

    RE/MAX has acknowledged its top regional performances at the fourth annual RE/MAX Asia Pacific Convention this month, with Australia and New Zealand claiming four awards. Australia and New Zealand join 16 other regions in RE/MAX’s Asia Pacific network – South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Malaysia and Myanmar. RE/MAX Australia…

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  • Ray White Group celebrates its 2018 winners in NSW and ACT

    Up to 900 real estate agents and guests last night celebrated their achievements at the annual Ray White New South Wales and ACT awards at the International Convention Centre in Sydney. Ray White Double Bay had a successful night at the state awards, picking up number one Sydney Blue office for the highest settled commission for the seventh year in…

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  • Ray White launches first major brand campaign

    Australasia’s largest real estate group, Ray White, and Sydney-based creative agency DO have partnered to launch a new brand campaign. The campaign explores the Great Australian Dream, with Ray White helping Aussies as they seek out their property dreams and bring them to life. The work is the epitome of Australiana, as it takes a light-hearted look at some of…

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    Agents could bear the brunt of new anti-money laundering crackdown

    Furthering the crackdown surrounding anti-money laundering rules in foreign investment, the government is considering relying on real estate agents to report suspicious purchases by foreign buyers. The joint public accounts and audit committee is reviewing the deficiencies in data around the foreign investment regime, with the ATO announcing on Wednesday they had conducted 4600 investigations into potential breaches since 2015.…

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  • National Director rejoins Colliers International

    Colliers International have welcomed National Director Nick Greenwell to their Occupier Services team. Mr Greenwell has rejoined Colliers International, originally working for the company for five years between 2002 and 2006. With over 15 years’ industrial property experience, Mr Greenwell has a strong reputation as a well-rounded expert and has worked across all major sectors of commercial real estate. “We…

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  • Minimum rates of pay for real estate employees increase twice in one year

    The need for real estate employers to adjust minimum rates of pay at the start of each financial year for employees covered by the Real Estate Industry Award or the Clerks – Private Sector Award is nothing new. But this year, because of the outcome of the four-year review of the Real Estate Industry Award, employers have had to make…

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    REIV commercial and industrial awards celebrate magnificent marketing

    The REIV have celebrated the best in commercial and industrial advertising, marketing and promotion across commercial sales and leasing campaigns at the annual Commercial and Industrial Marketing Awards. REIV President Richard Simpson said the awards are a great opportunity to recognise the increasingly innovative and tailored campaigns. “Congratulations to the winners and finalists in the 18 categories on their dynamic and…

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    Domain launches in-house data and insights department

    Domain has added a data and insights unit to its content division, Domain Research House. The unit will be led by Tobias Johnstone, content and data director for the department. It will provide Domain readers and clients with insights drawn from internal data. Trent Wiltshire of The Reserve Bank has been appointed as economist for the unit, Domain’s Dr Nicola…

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  • Elders launch largest ever marketing campaign to celebrate spring selling season

    Elders Real Estate have launched their largest ever marketing campaign this week to kick off the 2018 spring selling season. The campaign, ‘Spin to Win’, is set to drive more leads to Elders’ agents and offices which are spread across over 300 locations nationally. With a highly targeted digital strategy, Elders is expecting to increase the number of appraisals in…

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  • Chinese buyers invested $23.9 billion in Australian real estate in 2017

    Juwai.com’s 2018 Chinese Global Property Investment Report has revealed that Chinese buyers purchased $23.9 billion of Australian real estate in 2017. That consisted of $19.4 billion in residential and $4.5 billion in commercial acquisitions, and made Australia and New Zealand the biggest market for Chinese investment. That figure is a drop of 26.8 per cent from the estimated spending in…

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    ANZ and CBA follow Westpac in home loan rate hike

    Following last week’s announcement from Westpac that they would be raising their variable home loan rates by 14 basis points, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank have announced they will raise rates by 16 and 15 basis points respectively. “The latest interest rate hike from ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank comes as no surprise after Westpac opened the floodgates earlier. The big…

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  • Inaugural Proptech Summit demonstrates future ‘digital twin’ for property

    The Australian Proptech Summit was held on the 5th and 6th September and attracted a number of commercial real estate decision makers and finance players ready to connect with cutting-edge startups and technology companies ready to build the future of property in both commercial and residential. Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, big data and virtual reality were themes that featured heavily over the…

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  • Belle Property launches new training program

    Belle Property have launched a new training platform that they say takes a strategic and focused approach to career pathways across all facets of the business – sales, property management and administration. “In an ever-changing marketplace, it is paramount to have an agile learning environment that provides all employees with the tools and support that they need to succeed, no matter…

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  • Di Jones conference designed to inspire team

    The team at Di Jones gathered together to expand their skill set and grow personally as part of its 2018 Annual Conference in Sydney. Di Jones CEO Rob Ward said the staff from across the agency’s network of offices in Sydney and the Southern Highlands participated in the event. “The theme of the conference was ‘Make every day count’,” Mr Ward…

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  • LJ Hooker recognises top business owners at annual Night of the Stars events

    LJ Hooker’s annual Night of the Stars awards in Adelaide on the weekend concluded national celebrations which honoured the leading real estate group’s top business owners. LJ Hooker awards the Franchise Owner of the Year in every state and territory each year. The accolade has grown in stature to become the pre-eminent category of the state-based galas in recognition of the…

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  • September 2018: Interest rates on hold, Industry reaction

    Yesterday (4 September 2018) the RBA Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent for its 23rd consecutive meeting. “Conditions in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have continued to ease and nationwide measures of rent inflation remain low,” says RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe. “Housing credit growth has declined to an annual rate of 5½ per cent. This…

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  • Professionals aims to strengthen offering with restructure

    The national reshaping of Professionals Real Estate Group will lead to better service and support for the 225-plus members of the real estate network, according to the new chief executive officer. The management of Professionals Real Estate Group was previously split between seaparate divisions across Australia but the restructure leaves the group with one core board of directors and management…

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  • Harcourts Group Australia names new leader for South Australia and Northern Territory

    Harcourts Group Australia CEO Marcus Williams has announced the appointment of Gregg Toyama to the role of Harcourts South Australia / Northern Territory CEO. Mr Toyama transitions into the role after serving as Head of eBusiness for Harcourts International since 2006, leading the team that developed the franchise network’s suite of bespoke technology applications. While with the Harcourts eBusiness team,…

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  • Jason Boon triumphs with triple trophies at R&W 160th birthday awards night

    Jason Boon walked away from the Richardson & Wrench 160th birthday awards on Saturday night with three of the most coveted trophies. Boon, a director of R&W Elizabeth Bay Potts Point took home the award for Most Outstanding Selling Principal for both transactions and income earned, plus the Ronald H Pillinger Award. He also had his hand on the R&W…

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  • William Gunning tackles world’s longest, toughest horse race

    Returning to his roots as a horseman, commercial agent and Director of Gunning Real Estate William Gunning has successfully completed the 10th Mongol Derby. Mr Gunning was one of 44 riders from 12 countries who took on the challenge of the world’s longest and toughest horse race, as classified by the Guinness Book of Records. “I was inspired by the…

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    R&W Family Celebrates 160th Birthday

    Family is a word that figures large amongst R&W Principals as they prepare for their annual awards night which this year will double as a celebration of the group’s 160th birthday. This Saturday around 400 members of that family will gather at Sydney’s International Convention Centre to celebrate 160 years. And while there’ll be a moment to reflect on their…

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  • Experts say Spring will predict how the Australian property will act over the next 12 months

    The first weekend in September traditionally sees a boost in listings across the country, as the warmer weather hits and sellers begin to emerge. With the current listing numbers down significantly on the same time last year, the boom has well and truly worn off, and experts are predicting we’ll be able to see how the market will act over…

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  • C21 launches marketing campaign across the country, renovates offices

    Century 21 has launched the largest marketing campaign in its history, running across the country, to mark the network’s massive global rebrand. The bold campaign has already reached two million Australians, showing off not only the new branding but also the new vision and message. Offices across the country are being redesigned to match the new image. Century 21 Chairman…

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  • Ray White backs new boutique entity HTL Property

    The White family have embraced an opportunity to continue working with Ray White’s top fee writer Andrew Jolliffe in a new boutique vehicle called HTL Property. The family have a significant shareholding in HTL Property, continuing their relationship with top pub broker Mr Jolliffe, the number one international performer in Ray White for the last three years. HTL is a…

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  • Purplebricks parts company with national sales director

    Purplebricks Australia have confirmed that former McGrath agent Brent May has left the company. Mr May was with the fixed-fee agency for approximately 12 months. A Purplebricks spokesperson confirmed to the Australian Financial Review that Mr May’s departure was by “mutual consent” with Kenny Bruce, Purplebricks co-founder and group sales director. The spokesperson went on to say the move would…

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  • Release of innovative AI software set to revolutionise lease management

    LeaseInfo, Australia’s largest provider of retail leasing data, has launched Accurait, an advanced digital lease extraction platform set to revolutionise the management of leasing contracts. Accurait is the first in Australia to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning methods as part of the automation process for commercial lease abstraction. The methods were developed in partnership with CSIRO’s Data61, with…

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    US-based brokerage Compass to acquire Pacific Union International Realty

    A plan has been announced for US-based brokerage Compass to acquire Pacific Union International Realty, one of the largest brokerages on the West Coast. Pacific Union made $14 billion in sales in the last year and is the fifth-largest brokerage in the US, with 1,700 agents across 54 offices. Pacific Union CEO Mark McLaughlin has been critical of Compass in…

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  • Buxton director presented with company’s highest accolade

    Amongst the team at Buxton, no honour is met with higher esteem than the J.R. Buxton Award, fondly named after one of the company’s founders, John Robert Buxton. Previously awarded only twice in the company’s 157-year history, Adam Gillon, Director of Buxton Hampton East, was the third recipient, presented with the accolade at this month’s Buxton Annual Awards night. Coming…

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  • Harcourts Contributes to Farmer Relief Efforts

    Real estate franchise network Harcourts Group Australia has pledged $21,566 to the Australian Red Cross Farmer Drought Appeal programs. Coordinated through its Harcourts Foundation, the grant ensures that 100 per cent of the money raised goes directly to the charitable effort. “When the call went out nationally to come to the assistance of our country’s farmers, our network of Harcourts…

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  • Top Ten Takeaways from ARPM Day 2

    The Australasian Residential Property Management Conference (ARPM) kicked off yesterday with a whole host of speakers sharing tools and insights for property managers and principals. Here are ten great takeaways from Day 2. 10. Fake reviews = fake news and they’re bad for your business REA Group’s Nigel Dalton says businesses don’t know enough about where their reviews are coming…

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  • McGrath looking to business turnaround

    McGrath Real Estate is looking to the positive after a tough financial year, yesterday noting “…the core fundamentals of McGrath are robust” and the company remains “one of Australia’s leading sales agent teams” with “brand, customer service offering and network reach”. The publicly-listed company released its end of financial year results on Monday, reporting the revenue and Earnings Before Interest,…

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