Western Sydney scores big win in major real estate industry awards

Media release - 31st July, 2015

• Peter Diamantidis from Raine & Horne St Marys dominated the individual sales agent categories at the 2015 Raine & Horne National Awards held Tuesday night at Pullman International, Cairns
• Sydney real estate powerhouse Raine & Horne Double Bay scoops the pools in the office awards
• Andrew Lynch, Principal of Raine & Horne Toowoomba, won the coveted Max Raine award for service to the network.

The burgeoning strength of Western Sydney’s real estate market was highlighted by a quinella of wins by Raine & Horne St Marys' Peter Diamantidis at the Raine & Horne National Awards Dinner, held on Tuesday night at the glittering Pullman International, Cairns.

Mr Diamantidis took first place in the prestigious Top Salesperson (Dollar Value) and Top Salesperson (Number of Sales) categories, and in the process beat thousands of residential sales agents employed by the Superbrand across Australia.

However agents from Western Sydney didn’t have it all their own way, with Raine & Horne Double Bay grabbing the top gong as the network’s best office for number of sales, just pipping Raine & Horne Gosford, a newcomer to the winner’s podium at the national awards.

The Double Bay real estate powerhouse also grabbed first in the dollar value category, beating home Northern Beaches heavyweight Raine & Horne Dee Why/Collaroy and Raine & Horne Concord from the Inner West.

Raine & Horne Double Bay continued its dominance as the Superbrand’s top office for auction listings, although Central Coast real estate ace, Andrew Sorensen, secured the individual gong as the group’s best auction listing agent.

Mr Sorensen also scored first in the hotly-contested Top Salesperson Principal (Number of Sales) category, although he was pipped by Raine & Horne Double Bay’s super-agent Ric Serrao in the Top Salesperson Principal (Dollar Value) category.

In other awards news, newcomer Raine & Horne Rural Brisbane, led by Principal Danny Bukowski, won the Top Rural Office (Dollar Value) award, with Raine & Horne Bathurst grabbing first as the group’s best Country Office. Raine & Horne Nowra/Shoalhaven Heads was named Raine & Horne’s best Coastal Office for 2014/2015.

In a fitting finale to the evening, Andrew Lynch, Principal of Raine & Horne Toowoomba, was named the Max Raine Award winner for 2015. The award recognises Mr Lynch’s significant contributions to the real estate industry in Toowoomba and the Raine & Horne brand.

“This is a fitting award as Andrew has absolutely immersed himself in the Raine & Horne culture and is a strong brand advocate,” said Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne.

“Andrew has been hugely instrumental in building and expanding the reputation of the Raine & Horne brand in Toowoomba and as a longstanding Franchise Advisory Council member, a mentor and coach to many our Raine & Horne colleagues in Queensland. He is a genuinely worthy winner of the prestigious Max Raine Award in 2015.”

Apart from unveiling the network’s star performers, Mr Raine told the 250 guests who attended the national awards that the 132-year old network had never been in better health.

“We are delivering the latest systems, technology and processes that will ultimately result in new people joining the network,” said Mr Raine.

“We have never been in a more positive place, and we’re now looking to acquire rival networks, both here and overseas.

“In Queensland, we have experienced 40% net growth, and now have a new corporate office in Ascot where we are also about to launch a cutting-edge residential office which will become a springboard for an aggressive expansion into the Brisbane metro area.

“We now have definitive numbers working within the group, totalling nearly 3,000 people, and have over 30,000 listings on our new website.”

In the last year Raine & Horne achieved 24,500 listings and settled over 12,000 properties, while the Superbrand now boasts over 66,000 properties under management.

“In the last two years, we have also invested heavily in technology, and in the past 12 months we have implemented a number of exciting initiatives around our IT platforms, including our new mobile-first, responsive design website.”

The 2015 Raine & Horne National Awards for Excellence winners include:

Top Salesperson (Number of Sales)

Peter Diamantidis, Raine & Horne St Marys

Top Salesperson (Dollar Value)

Peter Diamantidis, Raine & Horne St Marys

Top Salesperson Principal (Number of Sales)

Andrew Sorensen, Raine & Horne Charmhaven

Top Salesperson Principal (Dollar Value)

Ric Serrao, Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Salesperson (Auction Listings)

Andrew Sorensen, Raine & Horne Charmhaven

Max Raine Award

Andrew Lynch, Raine & Horne Toowoomba

Top Office (Number of Sales)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Office (Auction Listings)

Raine & Horne Double Bay

Top Country Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Bathurst

Top Coastal Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Nowra/Shoalhaven Heads

Top Rural Office (Dollar Value)

Raine & Horne Rural Brisbane

-ENDS-

For further media information please contact:

Angus Raine, Executive Chairman, Raine & Horne on 02 9258 5422 or 0409 920 697

Andrew Harrington, National Communications Manager on 02 9258 5400