Professionals real estate plans for expansion as market grows

With property sales appearing to surge across Australia, Professionals Global chairman, Ian Cornell, said that the brand is in a strong position to grow.

Pointing to the economy improving, low interest rates, business confidence returning and the upswing being seen in property marketing, Cornell said that the time was ripe for expansion and to be investing in the future of the brand.

A significant focus for Professionals will be their internet presence, where they're intending to shift from a 'desktop' to a 'mobile' focus.

“With the huge growth in the use of tablet devices in recent years, we have made a major shift in focus when it comes to the design of web platforms,’’ said Cornell.

“Desktop users are now no longer the focus... With the new Professionals websites, tablet and mobile users became the initial focus, with the idea that ‘if it works on a tablet, it will work on a desktop’.”

With the property market in a growth phase since May 2012, he did note that it varies from region to region, pointing to backwards growth in Hobart and Adelaide of 2.9% and 0.8% respectively.

Sydney and Perth have been the stand out growth markets of the year, recording capital gains of 8.0% and 7.6% respectively.

“Our feedback from our principals also indicate that it is going to be a very busy spring for real estate agents across Australia,’’ he said.

“Buyers have returned to the market and property owners who have been thinking of selling, can see there is now pent-up demand for good quality housing in the market."

This comes as we recently reported that Ray White and Raine & Horne are also looking at expansion.