Recognising real estate

More women than ever are being recognised for their contributions to the real estate industry, according to Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) President Adrian Kelly.

The REIA Awards to be held in April at Darwin is set to feature 101 candidates – a boost from the 86 entrants last year – vying for one of the 20 awards up for grabs.

This number includes 11 Western Australian real estate agencies and staff, all of whom won awards at the state level, and will now compete for accolades against their state and territory counterparts.

Included are Realmark, Mint Real Estate and Perth Property Management, which are each in the running for more than one award.

“This year the REIA National Awards for Excellence will be proudly hosted by the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory (REINT) in Darwin, and competition is tight,” Mr Kelly said.

“It is pleasing to note there has been an increase in female candidates across various categories from previous years, particularly the Residential Salesperson of the Year category, which is always hotly contested.”

WA’s candidate for Residential Salesperson of the Year is Mint Real Estate Claremont’s Peter Clements, while Perth Property Management’s Kristy Yates is in the running for the Residential Property Manager of the Year.

Hedland First National candidate Amy Doran will represent regional WA in the Business Development Manager of the Year category and Property Wizards’ Liz Sterzel is nominated for Buyers Agent of the Year.

Moreover, Sharyn Howe and Christian Smith, from Realmark North Coastal and Century 21 Real Estate, will look to claim the Operational Support and Operational Leadership Awards respectively.

Transact Capital is vying to be the Commercial Agency of the Year, while Realmark hopes to take out the Marketing and Communications Award. Harcourts WA is up for the Community Service Award, Mint Real Estate Claremont are after the Small Residential Agency of the Year title, and Perth Property Management have their sights set on being the Residential Property Management Team of the Year.

As the April 2 awards night approaches, REIWA has reported an encouraging uptick in Perth sales activity this month.

The latest figures, posted on February 10, show 721 transactions in Perth, leading to a 22 per cent increase in sales activity across units, houses and land sales.

As of February 10, there were 12,618 properties for sale and 5,795 properties for rent in Perth.