Rapidly expanding rural property brand to reign supreme in Gloucester

APRIL 8, 2022

The rapid national expansion of specialist rural real estate brand Raine & Horne Rural now includes an office at Gloucester on the NSW mid-north coast. 

The launch of Raine & Horne Rural Gloucester, headed by long-time real estate principal Andrew Tregent follows the launch of a series of rural offices in South Australia and Western Australia. Mr Tregent is part of the leadership team at Raine & Horne's office at Umina, Ettalong Beach, Woy Woy, and St Hubert's Island on the Central Coast of NSW. 

Mr Andrew Brien, CEO of Raine & Horne, said the launch of Raine & Horne Rural Gloucester was part of a national strategy to bring the Superbrand's unique ecosystem of real estate services and digital technology to the rural real estate sector. 

"We have been focussed on launching offices in WA and SA and have established Raine & Horne offices in Dubbo, Bathurst, Cowra, Parkes, Young, Wagga Wagga, Armidale, Glenn Innes, Tamworth, Moree, Wellington, Gulgong, Orange, Nowra and Inverell that give us a rural footprint in NSW.

"Our plan is to expand the footprint of Raine & Horne Rural and are being strategic about who we recruit and that they have the capability and skillsets to sell rural properties whether it's a lifestyle acreage in Gloucester or a dollar producing 2000-hectare property in North Burngup in Western Australia."

Strategic purchase of market-leading rural independent

The launch of Raine & Horne Rural Gloucester involves the acquisition of leading independent Webbs Real Estate by Mr Tregent and his business partners Mr Tom Tregent and Mr David Keenan, who are also member off the leadership team at Raine & Horne’s offices Umina, Ettalong Beach, Woy Woy, and St Hubert's Island. 

Mr Tregent said, "Webbs has a history of 40 years in Gloucester and has a well-established team of real estate specialists led by licensee Gary Ferris. The entire team is staying on under the Raine & Horne Rural umbrella, which is fantastic news and will enable us to hit the ground running."

 While Mr Tregent and his business partners have been household real estate names on the Central Coast, the trio has decided to launch Raine & Horne Rural Gloucester after working and living in the area for the last five years. The Tregents purchased a large rural property in Gloucester in 2015 and have spent significant time in the district ever since commuting back to the Central Coast for work. 

"This expansion is a massive business opportunity for us as Webbs has a 54% share of the rural market in and around Gloucester being the market leaders for lifestyle, tree change and broadacre farms. The strength of the rural property market is underpinned by record beef prices and the Gloucester district offers amazing dairy & beef cattle production options.”

Mr Tregent added that apart from Mr Ferris, the entire team at Webbs are excited by the opportunity to rebadge, especially as joining the broader Raine & Horne network will create even more sales opportunities for the market-leading office. According to data from Raine & Horne Rural, around 92% of buyers in Gloucester are from outside the region. 

Mr Tregent confirmed, "This includes 34% of buyers from Newcastle, as well as 24% of buyers from the Central Coast. Around 15% hail from Sydney's Northern Beaches and 16% from the Inner West," he said.  

"Raine & Horne is very familiar to buyers living in all these regions where we have many offices. This massive brand awareness will enable us to bring buyers directly through the Raine & Horne network to the Gloucester region. 

"Better still, this trust and familiarity that out-of-area buyers from Newcastle, the Central Coast, and Sydney have in the Raine & Horne brand will enable us to deliver even better results for Gloucester vendors."

Mr Tregent confirmed that many of the out-of-area buyers from Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast are attracted to lifestyle acreages in Gloucester as the region offers the magic mix of real estate affordability and commute times well within 3.5 hours.

"Sydney buyers seeking a holiday weekender can commute to Gloucester within 3.5 hours, and they can purchase lifestyle acreages for under $700,000. We haven't seen prices like this for acreages at, say, tightly-held Tumbi Umbi on the Central Coast for almost 20 years," he said. 

Mr Tregent continued, "We are just excited to be part of the expansion of the Raine & Horne Rural brand nationally, and buyers and vendors in the Gloucester region will be the major beneficiaries of this growth."

For all your rural and residential sales and property management needs in Gloucester and surrounding areas, call Raine & Horne Rural Gloucester on 0265581507.