According to surveys in May, June and July of buyers and sellers who had completed a transaction with Harcourts New Zealand in the previous month, the group’s offices and agents, and the marketing material they produce, are all rated highly – leading to more than 90% of respondents indicating they would recommend Harcourts to others.

As Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan explains, the excellent recommendation result reflects the positive feedback on Harcourts’ Sales Consultants in all of the areas surveyed including: delivering on their promises, regularity of contact, local area knowledge, professionalism, understanding of clients’ requirements and negotiation skills.

“The levels of customer satisfaction shown in the survey results are a testament to the talent and hard work of the professional team who deliver ‘The Harcourts Way’.”

Mr Duncan says it was interesting to learn from the latest survey results that sellers are being offered more marketing options than at the same time last year, with the greatest increase being in the presentation of website upgrades and virtual tours, and that auctions are also being more heavily and effectively promoted – which he suggests has contributed to the increase in the percentage of vendors making a financial contribution to marketing their property.

“The latest survey results along with Harcourts’ auction listings statistics and anecdotal feedback too confirm sellers are increasingly recognising the benefits of the auction method of sale. In addition, they are realising that in order to ensure their property stands out from the competition they need to invest in marketing,” Mr Duncan says.

“As evidence of this, more than 85% of the sellers Harcourts Eden-Epsom office has worked for over the past year have chosen to auction their property and also paid for marketing, with the recent sale of 87 The Drive in Epsom under the hammer for well in excess of the vendors’ expectations being just one recent example of the results being achieved via the auction process.”

In terms of buyers, it was interesting to note that nearly 20% of purchasers said they found out about the property they bought through a Harcourts agent contacting them, Mr Duncan says.

“At 19.6% this was first equal with ‘other website’ and closely followed by the Harcourts website at 17.4%, with ‘local property publication’ next,” he says.

“These results align closely with those on buyers’ searching behaviour, with the recent surveys finding websites are the most popular hunting ground, though local property publications and local newspapers are still popular and a significant 23.9% said they most consistently used their local agent as the source of property for sale.”

Mr Duncan says the latest survey results confirmed that “having a personal connection” with a sales consultant is the most important factor for sellers when choosing their agent, followed by the agent’s marketshare and area knowledge along with the company’s local market presence.  Previous experience with Harcourts and the Harcourts’ brand also ranked highly in sellers’ considerations, as did referrals from friends or family.

Formerly trading under a Ray White franchise in Parnell, the team has today commenced introducing the Harcourts and NAI Harcourts brands along with Harcourts’ world-class systems and products in addition to sharing the news with their clients.

Directors James Lee and Rosh Daji say Harcourts is a New Zealand success story they wanted their company to be part of.

Harcourts Parnell senior management, from left, James Law, Rosh Daji and James Lee

“Harcourts is achieving excellent growth domestically and globally, they recently added an exciting new international network via their joint venture with one of the world’s largest commercial property groups to form NAI Harcourts, and from our observations they have industry-leading technology, training and support amongst other things,” the pair says.

“With big plans across both the commercial and residential parts of our business we recognised these advantages would be of huge benefit to our team and to our clients and are confident joining Harcourts/NAI Harcourts will be a great affiliation to bring us to another level.”

As Mr Lee explains, the new Harcourts Parnell office, located at 2 Heather St, boasts a multi-cultural team of 35, including top commercial sales and leasing specialists and business brokers along with high-performing residential sales consultants and property managers.

“With award-winning residential sales consultant Rosh Daji now becoming a Director we have a stronger focus on growing our share of the residential property market and having recently promoted one of the country’s top commercial sales consultants, James Law, to be an Executive Director and lead our top-performing commercial leasing team we have ambitious plans in that sector too.

“In addition we are determined to maximise my strong Asian network and the global networks of Harcourts and NAI Harcourts, with the ultimate aim being to have an internationally-operating office that is one of the top in town.”

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says with Harcourts’ key focuses including growth in Auckland and in the commercial property sector he is delighted to welcome NZ International Realty Ltd and their team to the group.

“Having had interest from a number of real estate companies operating in the Parnell area we felt James, Rosh and their team were the best fit with the Harcourts culture and would also add significantly to our group.

“The location of their office in the high-profile suburb of Parnell and the breadth and depth of their team is a great complement to our existing network and we’re particularly pleased they have a strong commercial team to help continue the strong growth of the NAI Harcourts brand.

“In turn, clearly they have identified Harcourts as being the best option to take their business forward with, which is great endorsement of what our group has to offer and where we are going.”

During that six-month period the website, which was relaunched late last year with significant design and functionality enhancements, had the second highest average market share of visits to websites in that category from New Zealand-based users, with only the industry-owned portal www.realestate.co.nz receiving more traffic.

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says the award reflects Harcourts’ strength in the New Zealand property market and the calibre and popularity of the group’s website.

“The fact that our website repeatedly ranks highly in both the Experian Hitwise awards and the monthly statistics released by Nielsen/Netratings, which show ours is the most visited real estate brand’s website in the country with an average of around 210,000 unique visitors each month, is irrefutable evidence of the success of our site,” he says.

“These consistent results prove www.harcourts.co.nz clearly has considerable value to people interested in buying, selling or renting New Zealand property.”

Harcourts International Chief Information Officer Jason Wills says the award also reflects the efforts of Harcourts’ partners in last year’s website revamp, NetConcepts, and the work of Harcourts own web designers and developers.

“Everyone’s efforts last year and the ongoing work we’re doing internally have helped lift the traffic received by the Harcourts’ New Zealand website and to improve the customer experience too.”

The Hitwise Top 10 Awards recognise websites from over 140 industries that are leaders in their industry and brings with it the benefit of using the Hitwise Top 10 Award shield.

The successful North Shore-based company’s international marketing initiative is focused on presenting a collection of more than 50 residential, lifestyle, rural and commercial property and development projects from around New Zealand to Chinese millionaires and billionaires interested in investing and/or immigrating here.

Harcourts Cooper & Co Managing Director Martin Cooper says the feedback on both the portfolio and New Zealand as a place to invest or live has been very positive and he is confident sales will follow.

Harcourts Cooper & Co Managing Director Martin Cooper in Shanghai showing some premier New Zealand properties to potential buyers, using touch screen technology.

“Prior to our arrival in Shanghai there was already good interest, with local investment groups wanting to get involved and stories in local newspapers and television too.

“The feedback we’ve since had from the hundreds of high net-worth Chinese we’ve presented to so far has been encouraging to say the least,” he says. “They have been impressed with our proactive approach, the specific Harcourts listings we’re marketing and what they’ve heard about New Zealand more generally.

“Encouragingly a number of offers have already been made and there is serious interest in many more of the properties and projects we’ve showcased, with a lot of the potential buyers indicating they would like to take the next step and travel to New Zealand to inspect in person what they’re interested in.

“In addition to connecting with potential buyers we’ve also been building relationships with both existing and potential business partners with a view to working together in the future, so that is another positive outcome from this trip.”

As Mr Cooper explains, in total 57 properties and projects listed by Harcourts from Whangarei to Queenstown and with a total value of around $825 million are being showcased in the multiple sessions being held each day at the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Shanghai business centre, New Zealand Central. This week Harcourts Cooper & Co has also secured the opportunity to host invited guests at the New Zealand Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai so they can learn more about New Zealand and get a taste of our lifestyle.

The properties included in the Exposure Shanghai initiative include Auckland waterfront homes priced at up to $14 million and premium multi-million dollar lifestyle properties in the Rodney District along with a selection of high-value rural and commercial properties and exciting development projects from around the country too.

As he explains, the guest list of more than 1200 VIPs has been built up from various sources including successful Harcourts Albany Sales Consultant Matty Ma (who is originally from China), immigration consultancy Austar and Shanghai real estate development company Sunteam.

“The database we have includes people who already have connections with New Zealand through business or for example through children studying here and also people who knew nothing beforehand about investing or living in New Zealand. All are looking for sound investment opportunities, with some also considering immigration.”

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says with a limited pool of local buyers for high-end property and development projects in New Zealand targeting overseas buyers, with clients’ support, is a logical part of the marketing mix.

“Harcourts want to achieve successful outcomes for our clients and that means being proactive and taking the appropriate approach to reach the maximum amount of potential buyers,” he says,” so I commend Cooper & Co for the effort they are making on their clients behalf to do that.

“They have recognised that China is a key source of investment and new immigrants and have put an immense amount of work into this project, being the only real estate company to date to secure an opportunity to use the New Zealand Pavilion at Expo and NZTE’s New Zealand Central, building and connecting with an exceptional database of potential buyers in China and establishing relationships for future marketing initiatives too.”

Cooper & Co’s partners in this special initiative include Luxury Portfolio, Umoview, Open2view, ANZ, Austar Immigration Group, Sunteam and Graphic Detail.

An 18-strong Harcourts team have made the trip to Shanghai to present the properties to prospective buyers, with those who do not speak Mandarin being supported by translators.

For more information visit www.shanghai2010.co.nz

Business Owner Kaine Wilson says establishing the new office, which is located at 308 Hastings Street, will benefit buyers and sellers, property investors and tenants active in the greater Napier property market.

New Harcourts Napier office

“Having an office in Napier in such an excellent location provides us with a great opportunity to expose the properties and businesses we’re marketing, which obviously benefits the clients we’re representing along with the buyers and tenants looking for property in the area.  Setting up an office in Napier also ensures customers or potential customers have somewhere suitable to meet with our team to discuss their property needs.

“Meanwhile having a physical presence in Napier is obviously good for our profile and provides us with a space in which to build a growing team of sales consultants and property managers to specialise in the Napier area, complementing the teams we already have based in our offices in Taradale, Hastings and Havelock North.”

Mr Wilson says he is excited about the potential of the new office, which is being managed by experienced realtor Greg Currie.

“We’ve recruited an excellent foundation team who are focused on residential sales, leasing and property management and we also have an NAI Harcourts commercial specialist based in the office.  With Greg at the helm and the backing of the powerful Harcourts brand, our systems and support I’m confident Harcourts Napier will be able to deliver top quality service and in doing so gain a strong share of the market, particularly as the team grows and expands into the rural and lifestyle property segments  too.”

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan has welcomed the establishment of a new Harcourts office in Hawke’s Bay.

“Napier is a key provincial New Zealand centre and I’m delighted to see a new Harcourts office has been established there to better support the existing population and to cater to those interested in investing or moving into the area,” he says.

“I wish the Harcourts Napier team and all of their clients every success.”

Commenting in the latest Harcourts MarketWatch newsletter Mr Duncan says a 10% increase in new exclusive listings in July, when compared to the same month last year, suggests a “more balanced” Spring market might be ahead, with supply and demand being more equitable.

“In terms of the residential and lifestyle markets at least, low interest rates, positive net migration and tax cuts should all provide some stimulus and traditionally Spring is always a more active period for both sellers and buyers.

“Certainly our team is reporting that there’s a strong lift in the amount of people preparing to put their properties on the market in the months ahead, with many already booking advertising campaigns,” he says. “This will be welcome news to buyers, many of whom have been unsatisfied due to the limited supply of quality listings in recent times.”

Mr Duncan says Harcourts’ figures show that across the country the market is performing considerably differently within the various locations and sectors but overall the total volume of written sales in New Zealand was down in July on the same month last year while the average price was up.

The latter he attributes to competition for what has been a relatively limited supply of quality properties and also to the fact that properties in the mid-upper end of the market, in which owner-occupiers are the majority, have continued to be in good demand but there have been fewer sales in the lower-end of the market, within which investors typically operate.