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The industry’s top performers were announced yesterday at the inaugural Australian Real Estate Awards, with nearly 400 of the industry’s best converging on Sydney for the five-star business luncheon.
The Australian Real Estate Awards (AREA), partnered by Domain, has set a benchmark for success within the industry, with the nation’s top performing agents and groups recognised across 20 categories.
Speaking to Real Estate Business, Douglas Driscoll CEO of Starr Partners, winner of the Best Innovator award, said the win was a culmination of three years hard work.
"The recognition from the industry is the cherry on the cake, it is from two or three years of hard work from us," he said.
"We've already started seeing recognition from the public but to see it from our peers is really a humbling achievement."
Mr Driscoll said the awards luncheon ticked all the boxes.
"I think the awards were spot on, I thought the timing was right, the venue, the MC was right and all the people that turned up were in good spirits," he said.
"It really seemed that egos were left at the door and people were there to have a good time."
Damien Cooley from Cooley Auctions, winner of the Auctioneer of the Year award, said he was thrilled to be a recipient.
“It’s one of the great things about our industry that we get to work with so many wonderful clients and it’s a testament to the quality of clients that we sell for and the combination of 10 years of building our business to where we are today,” he said at the awards.
Mr Cooley said the AREAs were valuable to the industry because they had a national coverage.
“It’s a national award that is open to any auctioneer or any real estate agent across the country, so the beauty of that is that we really get to compete against the best in the industry and we feel that holds a lot of weight for us in winning new business,” he said.
BDM of the Year Kate Towerton from Harcourts Hills Living agreed, saying it was good to be recognised on a forum that brought all franchise groups together.
“Having everybody on the same platform and anyone being able to put a submission through is one of the most important points because there have been other real estate awards that are focused on one franchise group or one state," she said. "It’s good that anyone can apply and they don’t need to be a member of any organisation to do so.”
Other winners included LJ Hooker for Major Network of the Year, PLACE for Major Independent of the Year and John Paranchi for Sales Agent of the Year.
For the full list of winners, CLICK HERE.
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