Major acquisition sees leading real estate agency expand

Leading real estate agency Bayleys has substantially increased the size of its operations in Auckland – acquiring the residential sales business operated by Goodwin Realty Limited in Auckland.

The business consists of five Ray White branches - located in Avondale, Mt Albert, Mt Eden, Point Chevalier and Sandringham. This transaction will see a large percentage of the company’s most experienced and highly regarded personnel join the Bayleys team - including Goodwin Realty founder, Ashley Goodwin who has some 38 years real estate experience, and his daughter Catherine who is the company’s general manager.

Bayleys managing director Mike Bayley said that acquiring the former Ray White locations would give Bayleys a much stronger presence in a geographic region of the city where the brand had previously been under-represented.

“This acquisition will give Bayleys a presence in a part of Auckland that we recognise as having strong attributes as the city continues to grow. These attributes include the region’s proximity to business districts, exceptional social and transport infrastructure, and an abundance of character housing,” he said.

“We regard this part of Auckland as being poised to benefit both socially and economically as the population of Auckland City continues to grow over the coming generation. This will see a shift in property values over the long-term, which is why we are positioning the Bayleys brand now.

“For example, Auckland Council’s planning paper released earlier this year identified this whole suburban region as being strategically situated beside economic growth corridors, with good roading and rail network access. Onehunga as a driver of economic growth is located immediately to the south, while Auckland CBD is just to the north.

“In addition, the council paper identified that the Mt Albert/Mt Eden/Pt Chevalier triangle could sustain multiple ‘town centres’, and highlights specific corridors of mixed use and apartment development living along several major arterial routes through these suburbs.”

The five Ray White branch operations will have been merged into the Bayleys group by September 1, 2011. The acquisition of the new operations will see Bayleys’ Greater Auckland presence in the residential property market expand to 20 offices.

Bayleys Real Estate residential sales general manager Johnny Sinclair said the transition would prove to be a win-win situation for not only the vendors whose properties would now receive enhanced marketing profiles under the Bayleys brand, but also for the former Goodwin Realty personnel making the move.

“Goodwin Realty’s highly experienced sales teams have operated under the Ray White network for 18 years - bringing long-standing and deep-seated networks in their respective local communities to the table. Bayleys brings its suite of industry-leading marketing initiatives to the table – including our extensive international reach. Combined, these two elements seed the foundation for what will be a very successful new era for the Avondale, Mt Albert, Mt Eden, Point Chevalier and Sandringham residential real estate markets,” Mr Sinclair said.

“The dynamics of real estate sales and marketing has changed immensely over the past decade. Technology, new communication channels, and constant new ways of marketing have seen real estate agency brands such as Bayleys pull away from the competition.

“We are now excited about being able to bring this suite of services to a whole new market through a New Zealand real estate company founded by New Zealanders, and with a third generation Bayley at the helm.”

Mr Sinclair said the expanded office network and the listings transferring to Bayleys would hit the market in time for an expected summer lift in residential property sales activity. A number of new marketing initiatives were already being planned to launch pending new housing stock onto the market at a time when buyer numbers are up, yet listing numbers are down.

Ashley Goodwin reiterated that the integration of his company into the Bayleys brand would benefit vendors currently with the five offices, as well as exposing their local property market to the benefits of listing with a much stronger and broader marketing based real estate agency.

“While the Goodwin team has always provided our vendors with excellent real estate service, vendors are now demanding an enhanced level of information and marketing capabilities from residential property salespeople. We believe that aligning ourselves with the Bayleys brand will ensure that together, under the new branding umbrella - with the strengths and benefits that brings - we will continue to be the market leaders in our region of Auckland.”

Mr Goodwin said there was already a significant synergy with Bayleys ‘family values’ and heritage – as both he and daughter Catherine were his family’s respective third and fourth generation real estate professionals.