Waikato Business News October/November 2017

14 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2017
GJ Gardner unveils retail
experience at Chartwell
Leading residential construction company
GJ Gardner Homes has opened up a mall
stand in Chartwell Shopping Centre as it
encourages affordable solutions for home
ownership.
The site located upstairs at
the Farmers’ end of the
shopping centre opened
in October and GJ Gardner
Waikato owner Jeff de Leeuw
says the aim is to make GJ
Gardner’s products more accessible.
“We are offering a lot more
house and land packages, some
of them are pre-designed or
pre-consented so it can become
a bit more of an exciting retail
experience,” he says.
“We have our design centre
and office in Te Rapa, four
show homes and various sites
around Waikato under construction
but this mall stand is
another touch point where the
community can engage with
our brand,” he says.
“We want to stimulate people’s
thought processes. We are
trying to encourage home ownership
so this is for those people
who may not have thought
they had the ability to build.
They can look at what they
may be paying now in their
existing situation and find out
what is achievable. It’s actually
very achievable and we can
offer full finance solutions to
make it easy.”
GJ Gardner Homes remains
the market leader both
in Waikato and nationally and
earlier this year the Waikato
franchise swept the bulk of the
awards at the GJ Gardner International
Franchise Awards
in Queenstown. The outstanding
franchise took out eight of
the nine major awards handed
out for the year while a number
of other awards were shared
among the team.
Social media workshop for business
A
company specialising in
social media is holding
a half day seminar in
Hamilton in November.
Collab Digital director
Brent Ireland says the seminar
at Claudelands Event Centre
on November 14 looks at the
Participants in a recent Collab Digital seminar.
five main social media platforms
with a particular focus
on Facebook and Instagram.
“You’ll learn how to develop
your own social media
strategy, how social media has
changed our behaviour, the differences
between platforms,
understanding audience behaviour
and, most importantly,
what makes for good social
media content,” he says.
Mr Ireland says Collab Digital
comprises a team of social
media specialists who offer a
range of workshops and seminars
to teach people how social
media can work for their business.
“They cover everything
you need to know to grow your
online presence and get a real
return on your investment. Innovative
and forward thinking,
Collab push the boundaries
when it comes to connecting
businesses with customers.
They focus solely on social
GJ Gardner Homes’ International Sales Consultant of the Year Rochelle
Clement at the company’s new mall stand at Chartwell Shopping Centre.
media by empowering business
owners and marketers in
a format that is fun, informative
and highly engaging - all
things that your social media
should be.”
Mr Ireland says all of Collab’s
learnings come directly
from real-time social media
management and campaigns
that they implement for brands
and businesses on a daily basis.
Through Waikato Business
News, Collab Digital is giving
away a free social media half
day workshop valued at $399 +
GST. To be in the draw, email
your name and business with
‘social media’ in the subject
line to win@wbn.co.nz
Included among GJ Gardner
Waikato’s success was winning
the International Franchise of
the Year – the fourth time it
has won this award. There are
more than 130 other businesses
throughout New Zealand,
Australia and America. The
Waikato franchise also picked
up the New Zealand Franchise
of the Year while Jeff won
Most Valuable Contributor to
the GJ Group and Rochelle
Clement won International
Sales Consultant of the Year.
The awards take into account
customer satisfaction
from surveys, workmanship,
market share and community
support and in some cases the
views of peers.
“It’s great recognition of
everyone’s input into the business,”
says Jeff.
“Everyone plays a pretty
key part in the process of
building a house. There are
many of components involved
and the whole team roles are
critical.”
Jeff’s award for Most Valuable
Contributor was voted on
by peers.
“That’s quite a nice one
to get in that you are not just
concentrating on yourself but
you are contributing to the
GJ Gardner team as a whole,”
he says.
The fact that GJ Gardner is
comfortably the market leader
in Waikato and New Zealand
should give customers confidence,”
says Jeff.
And the construction boom
shows no sign of slowing –
certainly not for GJ Gardner’s
Waikato branch which is as
busy as ever.
“We’ve just had our largest
month of sales for the last 18
months through September.
We didn’t listen to the uncertainty
around the election
which can have an effect on
our market. That’s even more
significant when you consider
that last year was huge for us.”
But Jeff says GJ Gardner
Homes always ensures that individual
clients know they are
valued and a lot of effort goes
into getting feedback to ensure
they are happy with their home
and the service.
“We’ve really concentrated
on our design and internal systems
to give good structure to
the build and make sure it’s individualised.
That’s really important
to us. You are building
your home so it’s the most important
thing you can ever do.
You need to be able to trust us
to deliver a very personal and
positive experience.”
Hamilton Monthly Property Report
Mark Ewing &
Andrew Quick
HERE IS A SNAP SHOT OF
WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING
IN THE MARKETPLACE OVER
THE PAST MONTH.
J3514P
The median price across the region rose
$21,500 compared to September 2016.
Compared to August the median price
stayed the same.
Compared to August, sales volumes fell
6%. Compared to September 2016, sales
across the region fell 27% with sales increasing
54% in South Waikato District but falling
56% in Hauraki District.
The number of days to sell improved by
four days compared to August, from 39 days
in August to 35 days in September. The number
of days to sell eased by five days compared
to September 2016. Over the past 10
years the average number of days to sell during
September for Waikato has been 46 days.
“There is huge confidence in the Waikato,
particularly in the greater Hamilton area.
There is still a lot of buyer interest from
people looking to relocate from Auckland
with about 35% of buyers from out of town.
Due to lack of available supply, prices
remain relatively firm and investors with a
robust equity position are still active in the
market. Demand in the north-eastern suburbs
has picked up, largely due to new builds
being completed and the new Rototuna
High School zone.” Philip Searle, REINZ
Regional Director.
Obviously the statistics contained within this
article represent only a small fraction of the
data we have at our fingertips. For more information
relevant to your street or your property,
call and ask for one of the EVES team.
P 07 834 9570 M 027 801 9962 F 07 854 3837
VISIT www.eves.co.nz
Hamilton City
By Greg Petrin
Rototuna branch manager
Local market facts
Sales
September
2017
Sales
September
2016
Under $200k* 1 0
$200 - $299k* 6 10
$300 - $399k* 35 58
$400 - $499k* 65 75
$500 - $599k* 51 68
$600 - $699k* 33 43
$700 - $999k* 23 22
$800 - $999k* 29 23
$1,000,000 -
$1,999,999*
11 6
$2m+* 0 1
Total number of sales* 254 306
Median sale price* $542,500 $510,750
Median days to sell* 33 31
*Statistical Information Derived From The Real Estate Institute Of New Zealand. Realty Services Ltd/Success Realty Ltd and any contractor/employee is merely passing over the
information. We cannot guarantee its accuracy and reliability as we have not checked, audited or reviewed the information and all intending purchasers are advised to conduct
their own due diligence investigation into the same. To the maximum extent permitted by law Realty Services Ltd/Success Realty Ltd and its contractors/employees do not accept
any responsibility to any person for the accuracy.
Linda
has the
confidence
to smile
Hamilton
Orthodontics
Specialist
Orthodontic
Practice
07 839 5870 / 17 Pembroke St / hamiltonorthodontics.co.nz