Long-standing Canterbury Real Estate Agency Merges With Its Bigger National Competitor

One of Canterbury’s oldest real estate companies – tracing its provincial business roots back 160-years – is merging to become part of New Zealand’s biggest full service real estate agency brand.

Matson & Allan – which has three branches in the Selwyn District – is merging under the Bayleys Real Estate moniker. The merger completes on March 1.

Matson & Allan employs eight sales and administration staff – with offices in Leeston, Darfield and Rolleston. Meanwhile, Bayleys’ branches in Leeston and Darfield employ eight sales and administration staff, with additional staff servicing the area from the company’s Central Christchurch branch.

Bayleys personnel will move into the three Matson & Allan offices, which will be fully reconfigured under Bayleys’ renown blue and white logo. All Matson & Allan staff will be invited to move across to the Bayleys brand – supporting what is already Canterbury’s largest full service real estate agency with expertise in the residential, lifestyle, commercial, and rural property sectors, in addition to a suite of property advisory services.

Bayleys Canterbury chief executive officer Pete Whalan said the merger with Matson & Allan reflected the long-term visions both agencies held for the province… founded on decades of on-going demographic and economic growth in the Selwyn District.

“We’re excited about the Matson & Allan stable joining the Bayleys brand. The company has a well-deserved reputation in Selwyn, which will be enhanced by accessing Bayleys’ extensive industry-leading back-office support services such as national print and digital marketing in conjunction with a strong community sponsorship programme both locally and nationally,” Mr Whalan said.

“With support from Bayleys’ national and international marketing initiatives, the Matson & Allan team joining the brand will now be able to add even more value to their vendor relationships – ensuring the maximum value is achieved for their vendors in the sale process.

“It’s certainly going to be an exciting time for the Selwyn’s residential property sector.”

Bayleys Canterbury is part of Bayleys Real Estate – New Zealand’s largest full-service real estate agency with a network of 90 offices nationwide, employing more than 2,000 sales and support staff nationally.

Matson Real Estate traces its genealogy back to livestock and wool trading firm H Matson & Co in 1862. In 1970, stock agents. Bill Matson and Bill Allan formulated a new direction for the company – establishing the genesis of what is now Matson & Allan Real Estate.

In the early days, the company specialised in the sale of farms. However, over ensuing decades the agency focused more on lifestyle block property sales – reflecting the evolution of Selwyn District from farming blocks into residential enclaves, along with commercial premises as supporting social infrastructure.

Matson & Allan director Chris Flanagan who stepped into the family real estate business in 1986, and then purchased the company from his father Warren Flanagan in 2000, moved its focus further into the residential market as the Selwyn District became increasingly more populated – transitioning from the days when the Rolleston’s main road was a gravel route bordered by two-metre high hedges, into the bustling satellite township it now is.

Selwyn’s appeal and growth was accelerated following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake - which saw thousands of homeowners inside the city’s metropolitan urban boundary move out to satellite townships within easy commuting distance of the city’s central business district.

Transport access between Selwyn’s towns and Central Christchurch was further enhanced during that period through implementation of the four lane Christchurch Southern Motorway Extension projects on state highways 76 and One.

Mr Flanagan said that while the Bayleys merger would see an end to the Matson & Allan name in the province, the agency’s sales team remained committed to the region and were looking forward to working under such a prestigious nationally branded agency.

“Bayleys’ marketing initiatives and operational resources really were attractive for us to join. They underpin what is now New Zealand’s foremost real estate agency - with more than 45-years experience in the market. The ‘arsenal’ of tools in the Bayleys marketing kit is truly outstanding, and we look forward to introducing those to our clients in the coming years,” Mr Flanagan said.

Data from Statistics New Zealand records that the Selwyn District population reached 73,600 people in the middle of last year as the area continued to grow faster percentage than anywhere else in New Zealand – growing by 3,400 people or 4.8 percent in the year to June 2021.

Concurrently, latest property sales statistics from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand record that the median sale price for properties sold in the Selwyn District rose by a whopping 37.3 percent in the year to January 2022 – up from $639,000 to $835,000 over a 12-month period.

Selwyn District Council notes that: “Propping up the Selwyn story is a strong economy, with the most recent statistics showing the economy growing by seven percent against a national average of 4.2 percent. This is underpinned by high primary sector produce prices and confidence in business - reflected by almost $138 million of non-residential building consent applications in the past year.”

Pete Whalan concluded: “It is exactly this sort of growth data which spurred Matson & Allan to concentrate its activities in the Greater Selwyn region some 26 years ago, and why the business baton has now been passed on to Bayleys to take real estate sales to a new benchmark in the district.”

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