The launch of a new real estate listings and sales service in South Australia is “inevitable and a much needed competitor”, says one of the local property industry’s most influential players.
Yesterday InDaily revealed that the Fairfax Media-owned Domain had offered local agents the chance to take a share in a new online real estate listings site.
The Domain offer is the first shot in a real estate advertising turf war in Adelaide as local agents bristle at a surge in charges by market leader realestate.com.au (REA).
The News Corp majority-owned website dominates the South Australian market, but now faces a serious challenge from Domain which has offered agents part-ownership of a new portal.
And it’s getting some serious support.
Until Monday night Greg Moulton was chief executive of major agency Harcourts – today the former President of the Real Estate Institute of South Australia and Adelaide Crows board member is getting ready to take on his new role as chief executive of Harris Real Estate.
“I think the idea of agents having part ownership of a sales and data portal is going to be very attractive to them,” Moulton told InDaily today.
“The Domain offer is good; I like the concept and like many others in the local industry, I can’t think of too many reasons why agents wouldn’t want to take part.”
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InDaily’s been told by several major advertisers in the market that REA’s chief executive officer Tracey Fellows was in Adelaide yesterday talking to key players to try to keep their custom.
“He’s here trying to shore up loyalty to the News Corp brand, but there’s not much left after the way they ramped up prices at a million miles an hour,” one industry veteran said.
The last two weeks have seen a major tremor rumble through the South Australian real estate scene, but it could have broader ramifications. Real estate remains one of the key revenue streams of News Corp’s local newspapers, The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and Messenger products.
The letter from Domain sparked intense discussion among agents who were fuming at recent price hikes for advertising on realestate.com.au
Some key players had already made a pre-commitment to Domain.
Then on Monday night came another bombshell.
“My employment at Harcourts SA ended suddenly last night,” Moulton wrote on his Facebook page.
Yesterday he confirmed what most of the industry had worked out: he was moving to Harris Real Estate, the agency that came to national prominence when it sold a house in Adelaide suburbs to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard last year.
That story, broken by InDaily, gave Harris’s founder Phil Harris a major marketing boost.
“It’s an energetic young, youthful organisation with a hell of a lot of professionalism and a strong work ethic and I hope I can add to the mix a bit of experience and draw on the last 20 years of real estate and management experience and do some good things,” Moulton said of his shift.
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“One of the things that I’ve enjoyed in the past has been growing businesses and I see this as a really solid base and full of potential and the plans that Phil’s got were very similar to the sort of growth I thought that business could do.
“More importantly I was really drawn to Phil’s values, and him as a person, and we’ll instil them strongly throughout the group and hopefully attract some business as we move forward.
“I’m looking forward to starting in early to mid October.”
Phil Harris said he was delighted to get Moulton on board.
One of the first decisions facing the pair is whether to jump on board the Domain portal.
Moulton indicated today that it was likely as the shape of the local market changed.
“There’s been a monopoly for far too long and when realestate.com.au whacked up their prices it was just too much.
“Competition in this market is needed, it’s inevitable and I think the number of agents that are interested in this deal has got to a stage where it’s ready to go.
“REA will still be around in the market; they have a kind of arrogant confidence and they’ll back themselves.”
Moulton believes the arrival of an agent part-owned portal is long overdue.
“Mate, it goes back years when we as an industry stuffed up by not keeping control of our own data.
“This time I think we are more united and will take back what we should never have let go.”
Domain, meanwhile, yesterday released a State of the Market report on Adelaide real estate.
“Restored buyer activity and prices growth is forecast to continue in Adelaide over the remainder of 2014 and into 2015”, the Spring State of the Market report said.
It forecast that Adelaide’s median house price is expected to increase by between 3 and 5 per cent over the 2014-15 financial year.
“Over the last financial year, changeover buyer activity in the middle and upper prices ranges has driven growth in Adelaide’s metro west and metro east suburban regions,” said Dr Andrew Wilson, Senior Economist at the Domain Group.
“Changeover buyers will continue to drive growth in these areas over the 2014-15 financial year.”
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