KEY POINTS:
As house sales fall and the number of real estate agents is set to decline, two big agencies are engaged in a public scrap over market share.
Co-operative agency chain First National said yesterday it was taking over L.J. Hooker in Nelson and claimed that was the third agency it had taken over in a month.
But L.J. Hooker said that statement was wrong because all its agencies were franchised so none could technically be taken over.
John Stewart, First National's general manager, said L.J. Hooker Nelson was "the latest casualty of the market" because by early next month, his firm would have taken over two L.J. Hooker offices there.
That would signify the end of that brand in the region, Stewart said, and followed his firm's expansion into Whangarei and Taupo.
But Paul Slatin, L.J. Hooker Group's general manager based in Auckland, took issue with Stewart.
"We're not a casualty because we will be back in the Nelson/Blenheim region, bigger and strong than before," he said.
L.J. Hooker had 750 offices internationally, 95 agencies in New Zealand and 800 to 900 agents, he said.
He is predicting big changes for agencies, particularly more mergers and acquisitions as times get tougher.
"Other than the false notion of a takeover in the case of Nelson, if First National want to use their involvement in mergers and consolidation in the current market as a signal of anything, that's up to them," Slatin said. "L.J. Hooker isn't being taken over by anybody and there is no end to L.J. Hooker anywhere."
But Stewart described his firm's moves in Nelson as the takeover of a competitor and a further indicator of his firm's growth.
First National had also taken over Century 21 in Whangarei and earlier this year took on L.J. Hooker staff and some of its business, Stewart said.
First National had about 100 offices and was a co-operative, not a franchise, so it was cheaper for a business to belong to that network, Stewart said.
Colin Wilson, principal at First National Nelson Tasman, said the downturn in sales volumes meant the market was consolidating.
"We are obviously pleased that First National is growing but we do recognise the challenges of the local market and are working to be proactive in these conditions," Wilson said.
Around 16,000 people are estimated to be working in the real estate sales sector, selling about 50,000 houses annually.
