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The Harcourts Foundation reaches $1 million in donations!
At the Harcourts Conference in May, it was announced that The Harcourts Foundation has achieved a massive $1 million in donations since its launch in August 2008 read more
January 18th, 2012
Harcourts Ends 2011 with Record Sales Results
Posted in: Announcements
Harcourts ended 2011 on a high note as our Australian offices posted a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in sales in November 2011 while our New Zealand offices posted an increase of 34 per cent.
In November, Harcourts posted sales totalling over $1.7 billion across its Australian and New Zealand operations, slightly above the group’s December total of just over $1.4 billion.
These results are simply fantastic and I believe the figures are proof that there are buyers out there and that a strong level of investor confidence is returning to the market.
Within Australia, our New South Wales operations reported a staggering 99 per cent lift in sales from December 2010 to December 2011, while Harcourts Western Australia posted a lift of 89 per cent and Harcourts Tasmania’s sales increased by 44 per cent over the same period.
Furthermore, Harcourts Queensland reported a lift of 14 per cent from…
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August 24th, 2011
The Harcourts Foundation Turns Three!
Posted in: Harcourts Foundation
This month I am incredibly pleased to celebrate the third anniversary of The Harcourts Foundation. In August 2008, The Harcourts Foundation was launched with the aim of providing support that helps, grows and enriches our communities.
After asking our team in 2008 if there was a better way to invest in the communities where we work, live and play, their overwhelming response led to the launch of The Harcourts Foundation in Australia and New Zealand.
In just three years, The Harcourts Foundation has raised well over $1.2 million in donations and has provided funding grants for over 200 charities across Australia and New Zealand. Also, we now have over 150 offices signed up for the ‘off the top’ giving scheme.
Since its establishment, our team have accomplished some truly amazing things in order to support the Foundation – a team of riders from Harcourts Victoria and Queensland rode 1,700kms from…
August 10th, 2011
Eight Reasons to be Optimistic about Australia’s Future
Posted in: Market Comment, My Thoughts
1. Australia has an enviable unemployment rate of 4.9%. Although the EU zone and the US have unemployment rates of 9.9% and 9.1% respectively, other advanced economies in our region like Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and even Japan are all below 4.5%. Seems like a solid neighbourhood.
2. China is now our biggest trading partner and even conservative growth predictions for that massive economy are at 8.5%. They are currently recording 9.6% per annum growth. China’s GDP growth in one year is almost as big as our entire economy. And we are riding that long China wave.
3. Our two biggest exports are Coal and Iron Ore. China consumes 47% of the worlds Coal and 48% of the worlds Iron Ore. We are in the box seat.
4. Our Public debt level is one of the lowest amongst the so called “advanced” economies. This means a smaller interest cost to…
May 26th, 2011
Harcourts Hall of Fame 2011
Posted in: Announcements
Over the past two weeks at Harcourts’ annual Conference on the Gold Coast and Rotorua, two incredibly significant individuals have been inducted into the Harcourts Hall of Fame – Stephen Dangerfield from Australia and Alison Aitken from New Zealand.
As a joint Business Owner and Principal of Harcourts Inner West in Queensland, Stephen has worked in the real estate industry for many years and has forged a strong and loyal client base due to his focus on providing quality customer service.
Stephen was the second ever Harcourts Business Owner in Australia after myself and Irene set up operations here in 1997, and is now one of our longest standing and most respected Business Owners in Australia.
Over the years, Stephen has built a concrete reputation for himself based on honesty, integrity and getting the job done. In fact, Stephen’s reputation is so…
May 25th, 2011
Conference 2011 Has Flown By!
Posted in: Uncategorized
Today marks the last day of Conference 2011 and what a massive couple of weeks it’s been. Last week we celebrated the Australian Conference on the sunny Gold Coast, and this week saw the New Zealand Conference in beautiful Rotorua.
This year, we were treated to some truly exceptional keynote speakers including US real estate guru, Bob Wolff, achievement coach, Richard Flint, sales and business performance coach, Richard Robbins, and eight-time kickboxing World Champion, Stan “The Man” Longinidis.
All of our great guest speakers shared their own journeys with us, revealing their tips and insights on achieving personal and professional success.
At this year’s Conference, we really celebrated our success and the growth of our group. Even during uncertain times, Harcourts continues to grow while many of our competitors look to consolidate their operations and downsize their businesses. We have continued to strengthen our position by growing our market share…
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May 24th, 2011
Thanks a Million!
Posted in: Announcements, Featured, Harcourts Foundation
Recently at Harcourts’ annual Conference, it was announced that The Harcourts Foundation has achieved a massive milestone – $1 million in donations since its launch in August 2008!
I’m so proud of the way the Harcourts team has embraced and supported The Harcourts Foundation over the last few years and achieving this significant milestone is a testament to their generosity and goodwill.
Being able to support our local communities is incredibly important to Harcourts as they have supported us so strongly over the years.
At Conference in Australia, we also celebrated the achievements of 14 extraordinary people who cycled over 1,700kms from Melbourne to the Gold Coast as part of The Harcourts Foundation Charity Challenge to raise awareness and much needed funds for Cystic Fibrosis Victoria and the Queensland Premiers Flood Appeal.
The 14 riders arrived at Conference on the Gold Coast on Monday, having completed their epic journey…
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May 5th, 2011
Landmark Harcourts Joint Venture Officially Launched
Posted in: Announcements
In February at Harcourts’ annual Business Leaders Conference in Melbourne, I was pleased to announce that Landmark and Harcourts had entered into a joint venture agreement – an announcement that was met with a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm by our team.
Last month, the Landmark Harcourts joint venture was officially launched, marking the establishment of a major new business for the marketing of rural and regional real estate in Australia.
The joint venture officially commenced operations on the 6th of April and has brought together two businesses, each with well over 100 years of experience in the real estate sector who, combined, represent over $20 billion in property turnover annually and operate from over 400 locations around Australia.
Now that business has commenced, Landmark Harcourts aims to expand its operations through the recruitment of new franchises in selected locations across Australia, while also actively targeting growth in specific…
May 3rd, 2011
Harcourts Conference is Fast Approaching
Posted in: Announcements, My Thoughts
In recent months the Harcourts events team have been working long and hard in preparation for the 2011 Harcourts Conference in both Australia and New Zealand this May. Kicking off in just two weeks, this year’s Conference is sure to be one of the best yet!
David Martin, Leanne Howard, Laura Watts, Emma Revell and their teams have worked tirelessly to prepare for this event and their efforts will ensure two outstanding conferences!
There are some truly exciting things planned, including some world class guest speakers such as Richard Flint, leading American author, achievement coach and mentor, Bob Wolff, Principal and Sales Agent with Harcourts USA, Richard Robbins, author, sales and business peak performance coach, and Stan “The Man” Longinidis, eight time kickboxing world champion.
I’m excited about this year’s conferences and look forward to seeing you all there on the Gold Coast and in Rotorua, and to share the…
April 29th, 2011
More Great News from The Harcourts Foundation
Posted in: Harcourts Foundation
In what’s been another great quarter for The Harcourts Foundation, six Australian-based charities have received funding grants totalling $62,167.
Two charities in Victoria were granted a total of $34,574, one charity in Queensland received $15,000, one charity in Western Australia received $10,000 and two charities in South Australia were granted $2,593.
Amongst the grant recipients for the January to March 2011 quarter was Diabetes Australia, The Reach Foundation, and the Craniofacial Foundation Australia.
The money granted will provide the charitable organisations with the funds to carry out important research and development projects, purchase vital equipment for those in need, and run significant community projects and services.
I’m so proud of The Harcourts Foundation and am so excited that as an organisation we are able to help so many groups in need. Our local communities have supported us so well over the years and I’m thrilled that we are…
March 28th, 2011
Harcourts Technology Services Impress!
Posted in: Technology
Earlier this year, we conducted a survey to uncover how our team view the services we offer them.
Almost 1,100 members of the Harcourts team from Australia and New Zealand completed the survey and the results showed that most were incredibly happy with the work done by the Harcourts Technology, Marketing and eBusiness teams, and the initiatives which they have developed.
When asked what single most important ‘thing’ Harcourts offered to the team, our internal technology suite, Harcourts One was named in the top three products.
Further, when asked which Harcourts products provided the most significant business advantage, Harcourts One, our iPad applications (including Mobile Agent and eCampaign) and CampaignTrack were among the main responses.
The survey also revealed that the vast majority of respondents were incredibly happy with the service provided by the Harcourts Helpdesk.
Within Australia, 87.3 per cent of respondents rated the service provided by the Harcourts…