10/07/2009
Ray White is pleased to announce that a new franchise office has now opened in the Taranaki region of New Zealand.
The office will be under the guidance of well known real estate identity, Mark Ferguson, as principal officer together with his partner Rachel Culpan and the sales team. Mark has built his real estate career over the past 15 years with management positions held with Ray White and also Harcourts. In addition to that, Mark has been a successful franchisee of a multi-office operation in the Taranaki district.
The Taranaki area is home to a population of 107,000. The average sale price for property in New Plymouth was $328,000 with 203 property sales being transacted last month. There is a mixture of properties, mainly owner occupied, however there is an increasing investment market as Taranaki has a high level of tourism and also self developed industries such as oil and dairy farming. The region relies on its natural and physical resources for its social and economic well-being. Over 2100 dairy herds operate in the region and produce almost 20% of New Zealand’s total milk solids. Sheep and beef farming is largely confined to the hill country along with exotic forest plantations and indigenous forest cover. Oil and gas reserves, including Kapuni and the larger Offshore Maui gas field, and the associated processing, distribution and export of hydrocarbons also contribute to the regional economy.
For the Ray White Group, this is the 130th office in New Zealand and it gives us great pleasure to be able to announce this new office in Taranaki. It comes shortly after the opening of our new Paraparaumu office on the Kapiti Coast. The Group continues to extend and grow its marketshare in New Zealand with recent results showing that Ray White now sells 1 in 5 properties across Auckland and Canterbury which is a record for our company.
Mark and his team carefully considered their choice of brand to commence their new agency and saw Ray White as a leader, not only in brand recognition but also in the services that the franchise offers by way of technology and marketing. This in turn enables vendors to list their property with confidence that the group’s marketing position enables buyers to view property right across the international network of Ray White.
