First McGrath Real Estate Office Opens On NSW South Coast

Sept. 19, 2009 - PRLog -- Leading residential agency, McGrath Estate Agents, has announced the opening of a new regional office in Wollongong to service The Illawarra.

Following its success in North Coast markets including Terrigal and Gosford on the Central Coast, Warners Bay on the North Coast and the recent opening of its Port Macquarie office on the Mid North Coast, McGrath has headed south to the critically important regional market of Wollongong – just a one hour drive from Sydney.                  

John McGrath (http://www.johnmcgrathblog.com.au/), Chief Executive of McGrath, said Wollongong remained a highly desirable area for Sydney commuters, downsizers and holiday home buyers.  

"Wollongong has undergone significant change over the past 10 years and its evolution continues today," Mr. McGrath said.

"While BHP Billiton is still the major local employer, Wollongong's character is no longer that of a miner's town. Today it is a thriving regional centre with a strong retail and tourism industry and 17 of Australia's most pristine beaches. It's also one of the country's largest commuter towns with 20,000 residents travelling to Sydney each day.

"Wollongong's real estate profile is changing rapidly – old cottages are being replaced with architecturally designed homes and contemporary apartments now surround the CBD.  It is an incredibly dynamic property market and that's why we want to be there. We identified The Illawarra as a key strategic region very early on in our plans for national franchising. We've now partnered with two top local professionals to open our first office on the South Coast, for what is an exciting milestone for us."  

With most local properties sold via private treaty, McGrath will bring a new approach to the region with its highly successful track record for auction campaigns.  This was among the reasons prompting McGrath Wollongong Principals, Trever Molenaar and Jordan Andonovski to join the network.

Mr Molenaar and Mr Andonovski are both former regional directors of Ray White and share 16 years of local sales experience.

"McGrath has always been known in real estate circles as a forward thinking company," Mr Molenaar said.

"We have watched the growth and expansion of the brand and we're very excited to introduce its leading edge marketing and 'six star service' to Wollongong home owners. McGrath also offers the benefit of an extremely strong presence in Sydney, which is a major source of buyers for our region. Demand from ex-Sydneysiders is likely to increase substantially over the next 10 years as more downsizers leave Sydney and the market for holiday homes regenerates following the global financial crisis."                  

McGrath Wollongong will have a team of seven, focusing on residential sales, property management and its own dedicated mortgage broker from Oxygen Homes Loans (http://www.oxygen.com.au/). The office will service Austinmer and desireable coastal towns like Wombarra in the north;  the northern suburbs area including Corrimal and Woonona;  the Wollongong CBD and growth areas in the south such as Shellharbour and Horsley.                

The McGrath Wollongong office can be contacted on 02 4224 6688.

For more information please contact:
Peter Richards,
Head of Marketing,
McGrath Estate Agents,
http://www.mcgrath.com.au/
Tel: +61 (0)2 9386 3157
Fax: +61 (0)2 9386 3344