Media release - 1 March, 2012

Raine & Horne flagship announces expansion into Bondi Beach

Real estate heavyweight Raine & Horne Double Bay has officially extended its service reach to the coast, with the acquisition of Raine & Horne Bondi Beach, and its merger with sales and property management specialist LHI Real Estate Group.

For Raine & Horne Double Bay, the move into Bondi Beach is a natural progression and a major milestone for the firm, which was launched by real estate doyen and Raine & Horne Chairman Max Raine in 1968.

“Raine & Horne Double Bay was our first suburban office and has been a flagship for the Raine & Horne network ever since,” says Angus Raine, CEO Raine & Horne.

“The expansion into Bondi Beach is a logical move for Raine & Horne Double Bay, and reflects the growing profile of Bondi Beach as a prestige Eastern Suburbs real estate market.”

Mr Raine also thanked outgoing principal at Raine & Horne Bondi Beach, Giora Friede, for his contribution to the Raine & Horne network.

“Mr Friede built a very successful business and has decided that after almost eight years in Bondi Beach to look at some new opportunities outside real estate sales and property management,” adds Mr Raine.

According to Barry Goldman, Co-Principal of Raine & Horne Double Bay, the acquisition of Raine & Horne Bondi Beach, located at 19-23 Hall Street, Bondi Beach, enables his firm to deliver a full suite of property services from the harbour to the coast.

“The office front on Hall Street is a high traffic area and enables us to market our big-ticket properties to a potentially larger audience,” says Mr Goldman.

“Combining the talents of Raine & Horne Double Bay and Raine & Horne Bondi Beach has significantly increased the size of our team, which can now service a bigger slice of the eastern suburbs property market.”

The expansion also enables Raine & Horne Double Bay to acquire the local-area expertise of Bondi Beach specialists such as award winning sales aces Mary-Anne Cronin and Hannon Bouskila.

“Our merger with LHI Real Estate Group means we have added seasoned real estate sales professionals Paul Langsam and Deborah Herrigan to our team, while this move also renews our focus on offering industry best service levels to our landlords and tenants.”

Moreover with the changing face of Bondi Beach, the timing is perfect for the launch of the beefed-up Raine & Horne Double Bay/Bondi Beach entity.

“Bondi Beach is going through a metamorphosis with a lot of high-end luxury apartment developments either completed or under construction, including, ‘The Bondi’, ‘The Beach House’, the ‘Swiss-Grand’ and the Togo development ‘Boheme’ that was formerly the Hakoah Club,” says Mr Goldman.

“These developments will provide Bondi Beach with a new stock of luxury apartments, and we are seeing more Eastern Suburbs empty-nesters selling their habourside houses and moving down to the beach for their retirement years.

“Bondi Beach is arguably Australia’s best-known beach-side suburb, and people are realising it also offers a great lifestyle, where its possible to swim almost every day, plus there’s a great selection of fine restaurants, and the retail precinct is changing dramatically.”

Mr Goldman adds, “It’s a great time to be buying and investing in Bondi Beach and by having both offices under one umbrella, we can offer our clients more depth than a single standalone Bondi Beach or Double Bay office.”

For further media information contact:

Angus Raine, CEO, Raine & Horne on 0409 920 697

Barry Goldman, Principal Raine & Horne Double Bay and Raine & Horne Bondi Beach on 0418 890 210

Kit Bashford, National Marketing & Communications Manager on 02 9258 5400