Ray White Surfers Paradise hits record sales of $200m in 2 months

RAY White Surfers Paradise Group (RWSP) has achieved a sales record for January and February with unconditional contracts totalling almost $200 million secured during the period.The Gold Coast agency, the largest in the Ray White network, was buoyed by a record number of listings for its annual auction program known as The Event in January to help sales climb to $197 million over the first two months of 2017.The Event accounted for $86 million of that total, while strong sales volumes continued into February driven largely by demand from local and interstate buyers.Andrew Bell, the CEO of RWSP, said that while the sales record has been achieved from robust demand for Gold Coast property it also reflects the agency’s growing market share through the strength of the RWSP group.“We have spent a lot of time remodelling our business and this is now being reflected in the sales we have been achieving,” said Mr Bell.Rapid growth since 2014 led RWSP to move its administrative hub into bigger premises at 50 Cavill Avenue last year. The group’s headquarters occupies a full floor of the landmark Surfers Paradise office tower.“That move gave us greater scope to improve our capacity to service clients and train staff which has benefited the group’s performance across the board,” said Mr Bell.“We’ve invested heavily in the best training available in the country and we also have beefed up the resources to market properties through various platforms both nationally and internationally.“The resources available to us now are unprecedented, enabling us to maximise results for our clients.“This has given us the added capacity to capitalise on the rise in activity we’ve witnessed across the Gold Coast property market, particularly over the past year.“The summer period was particularly strong with local buyers out in force, along with a resurgence of interest from interstate and offshore buyers.“We’ve seen strong activity in the premium end of the market, as well as a growing appetite for investment stock.“The big trend though has been the rise of southern buyers selling up big in Sydney or Melbourne and buying up value on the Gold Coast. The latest interstate migration rates to Queensland strongly reflect this trend.“The commercial division is also notching up some of the best numbers ever for the group, building on the record 446 transactions last financial year.“It’s great to see the market in such good shape again, and we are expecting these conditions to continue into 2018 as we benefit from the international attention the Commonwealth Games will create for the city.“However, the strategy we have been implementing across the group is also focused well beyond this period.“It’s about creating a sustainable business that is both profitable in the good times and in the leaner times.“All businesses these days need to be agile enough to handle changing market conditions and that’s something we have been working very hard to achieve.”Among the RWSP residential and commercial sales that boosted January and February to a record are:

• 76 Admiralty Drive, Paradise Waters, for $3.5 million
• 115 Commodore Drive, Paradise Waters, $2.85 million
• 43 Alfred Street, Mermaid Beach, $2.31 million
• 34-44 Brisbane Road, Ebbw Vale, $9.8 million

RWSP is currently preparing for its latest auction campaign, Autumn Selection.