KEY POINTS:
Real estate agent Michael Boulgaris has sold half his business to Wayne Maguire, formerly of Eve's Realty and Bayleys in Tauranga.
Boulgaris of Boulgaris Realty estimated 300 real estate offices had shut in the past year but said he remained confident about the top end of the market.
His agency has 12 staff in Auckland's The Metropolis. He had moved to Queenstown for two years where he established the Brown Sothebys business, but returned to Auckland in 2006.
He said the new business, Boulgaris Maguire, would be in Parnell by next month.
A fall from a horse resulted in a visit to the A&E and had left him on painkillers so he said he had a very good excuse not to move furniture.
Last year, his firm sold a $10 million-plus house in Remuera under strict confidentiality arrangements. It also has two properties in Cliff Rd in St Heliers for $4 million-plus each.
Boulgaris said he had an average listing price of $2.2 million in the past 12 months.
He lives in Franklin on a rural lifestyle block but said he had 22 years' experience in the Remuera market.