Harveys Heading South To Tackle Mainland Market

Harveys Heading South To Tackle Growing Mainland Market

Harveys Real Estate, which earlier this year opened its 50th North Island office, is switching its attention south of Cook Strait as it seeks new markets to strengthen its brand.

Chief Executive, Ross Hunter, confirmed today the company intends to have a South Island presence within a month, with Christchurch as the preferred site to begin penetrating the mainland property market.

Mr Hunter says the move south is part of the overall strategic plan. “At our Harveys Annual Conference in June we signaled to the group that our goal was to have a presence in all main centers within the next 2-3 years,” he says. “We have achieved that in the North Island so it was no secret our next move would be south,” he says. “You only have to look at some of the developments around the Southern Lakes region to appreciate the South Island property market remains buoyant. And if you were to believe only half of what you read, it appears some of the northern buyers are fairly active in the region.”

Mr Hunter says Harveys is looking to continue to expand its branch network “at the same rate as we achieved in the last 12 months.” During that period it increased its offices by 25%, going from 40 at the beginning of 2003 to 50 by February 2004.

Much of that growth came from the Wellington region, where Harveys opened its first office in June 2002. Two weeks ago that number had reached five with the opening of a new branch in Petone. It also has five offices on the Kapiti Coast.

“Our next benchmark is to reach 60 offices by the end of our financial year next March. We are confident that we have an attractive brand and the systems in place to support our branch network, which is attracting more and more good people to join us.”

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