PGG Wrightson Real Estate achieves growth

PGG Wrightson Real Estate achieves 65 per cent sales growth

PGG Wrightson Real Estate sold $2.3 billion worth of property during the 12 months to 31 March 2008, up 65 per cent on the previous 12 months figure of $1.4 billion.

General manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate Stuart Cooper says the buoyancy of dairying is one factor in the success, but not the whole story.

“We have sold a large number of dairy properties, but we have also achieved increases in the number of sales in the wider rural real estate sector, in residential and in lifestyle property sales.

“For example, we sold 19 rural properties worth $10 million or more during the period, as well as a further 63 properties in excess of $5 million These premium value farms include all land uses, not just dairy, but arable, horticulture, viticulture, high country stations and grazing farms.

“Our rural property sales totalled $1.813 billion for the period, which is up 85.4 per cent on the previous year. This has increased our market share from 27.8 per cent to 30.4 per cent of the rural property market, continuing the gains we have made since late 2005, when our market share was a little over 21 per cent.”

“In the lifestyle sector the national market overall declined slightly during the 12 months to the end of March. However, PGG Wrightson sold lifestyle properties worth ten per cent more than for the same period in 2006/07

“Similarly, in residential real estate, overall the market has seen a downturn. However, this is not reflected in our sales figures for residential property, which have risen in value by approximately 21 per cent,” he said.

According to Stuart Cooper, the growth of PGG Wrightson Real Estate is due to it being a part of New Zealand’s leading rural services company.

“Compared to many of our competitors, which are multi-headed affiliations of separate franchises, being a single public company gives us a point of difference in the market. The reassurance associated with that is increasingly drawing clients to PGG Wrightson Real Estate. This is particularly the case in rural property sales, where our brand is strongest and where our nationwide network is a bigger advantage than in residential markets, where more locally specialised companies tend to dominate.

“Our business is about bringing buyers and sellers together and helping them to complete a transaction. Having the backing of another 2,000 people in the wider PGG Wrightson business is a huge benefit.

“This, together with the substantial changes now occurring in the real estate industry, is also helping PGG Wrightson to attract successful sales people from other companies, who recognise the advantages of doing business within this sort of structure,” he said.

PGG Wrightson Real Estate currently employs 416 sales people in a nationwide network of 64 offices in New Zealand, plus four in Australia.

ENDS

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