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A prominent real estate group will tap into the lucrative metropolitan region south of Sydney by opening an office in the fast-growing Illawarra.
Richardson & Wrench Dapto officially opened its doors on Monday. It is the newest office in R&W’s rapidly expanding regional network and marks the return of R&W to the Illawarra after an absence of several years.
R&W managing director Andrew Cocks said the combination of Sydney’s growing population and housing affordability pressures were creating new opportunities for regional expansion, with Wollongong and surrounding suburbs feeling the Sydney-effect.
“Dapto is an important signing for us in an area that is set to increase its population by 50 per cent in the next five years,” Mr Cocks said.
“Prices in the Illawarra have risen 40 per cent in the past four years and much of that can be attributed to the overflow from Sydney.
“With a train station, schools, strong community and about 90 minutes from Sydney, Dapto is ticking all the boxes for a lot of buyers priced out of the Sydney market or cashing out and taking a tree change.”
Mr Cocks said the conversion of MMJ Dapto to Richardson & Wrench positioned it to take advantage of the group’s network of metropolitan offices with increased opportunities for referral.
“The directors have built a very successful business that will be an asset to our network,” he said.
“They have close community ties and an excellent reputation in all fields of real estate and project marketing with a particularly strong property management business.”
R&W Dapto is headed by Dapto locals Alan Chaffers, Bradd O’Brien and John Tisma.
Mr Chaffers, who founded the agency 28 years ago, said the ready availability of land suitable for residential development was the driving force behind Dapto’s growth.
“Currently Dapto has around 11,000 dwellings,” he said.
“In the next five years, another 5,000 homes will be built and a large portion of the buyers will be coming from Sydney’s west and south.
House and land in new subdivisions in Dapto can still be picked up for under $650,000. At the other end of the spectrum, sales of $4 million trophy homes can be secured in the prized coastal suburbs from Kiama to Stanwell Park.
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