Bayleys Real Estate grows after rival agency buy out

Taranaki real estate agency Bayleys has increased the size of its residential and lifestyle sales team by 50 percent through the acquisition of rival property company Urban Studio.

Bayleys Taranaki employs 19 staff in New Plymouth – encompassing eight professional sales personnel in the residential and lifestyle sector, two high-caliber salespeople in the commercial and industrial property sector, and two expert salespeople in the rural sector. In addition, Bayleys Taranaki has a two-person residential property management team overseeing the letting, tenanting and maintenance of rental homes across the city.

Urban Studio’s nine residential salespeople, including owner/directors Jenny Brooking and Vicky Ashton who founded the company in 2009, will now take that number to 28. Urban Studio’s personnel, including two administration staff, will transfer into Bayleys’ recently opened new offices at 15 Courtenay Street before the end of the month.

Properties listed with Urban Studio will all transfer seamlessly into Bayleys’ marketing and administration systems. An informal ‘meet ‘n’ greet’ client function is planned for early November.

Bayleys Taranaki general manager Dean File said the agency’s new Courtenay Street premises, in the former Taranaki Daily News offices and printing hall, had been laid-out specifically to accommodate growing the agency’s scale and scope of services – and taking over Urban Studio was the first phase of that growth.

“The acquisition of Urban Studio’s experienced salespeople now gives Bayleys a critical mass in this sector of the market, and we shall now be looking to add more sales personnel in the rural and commercial and industrial disciplines. A benchmark target of 15 percent growth in listings has been set for each of the coming two years,” Mr File said.

“While ‘being local’ is a foundation principal in real estate marketing, it is now equally important to be part of a national real estate agency network which has access to innovative systems and procedures, and to have access to international buyers. Bayleys delivers this through its global affiliation Knight Frank.

“Internal migration, particularly out of Auckland, to provinces such as Northland, the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, and of course Taranaki, has been well documented over the past three years – with Aucklanders taking equity out of their million dollar-plus homes and moving to cities such as New Plymouth where they can buy a new home mortgage free and have money in the bank to spare.

“While the residential property market in Auckland has well and truly peaked, city dwellers from up there are still taking advantage of the lifestyle opportunities and financial benefits of relocating to the regions. And from those perspectives, Taranaki has a lot to offer.”

Mr File said that with a strong presence and head office in Auckland’s residential real estate market, Bayleys had consistently been at the forefront of delivering inventive and original marketing initiatives during its four decades of business – ranging from regional New Zealand property forums and investment seminars, through to Kiwi ex-pat’ property expo’s in Singapore and London.

“Conversely, being part of a national chain brings investment opportunities around the country directly to Taranaki residents – such as the multiple commercial and industrial syndication offerings which have attracted large numbers of investors in the region over the past five years,” Mr File said.

“In fact, with crowds of up to 200 investors at a time attending, the Bayleys’ syndication presentations held in New Plymouth attract the biggest gatherings outside of Auckland.

“The investment in relocating to new Taranaki premises and simultaneously growing the company through acquisition, reflects Bayleys’ optimism for the long-term future of Taranaki as a regional economy. At a time when other real estate agencies are ’hunkering down’ for what they perceive as a period of consolidation in the markets, Bayleys is in fact gearing up for growth.”

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