PHOTO: Ray White – Leaders, Wellington
One of Wellington’s oldest and most recognisable real estate businesses has beaten operations across Australia and New Zealand to claim a major international award.
Ray White Leaders Group was named the Top Group by Number of Sales at Ray White’s 2026 international awards, recognising its transaction volume across the 2025/26 financial year.
The Wellington-based operation finished ahead of Ray White groups throughout the Australasian network for the number of properties sold.
It is an impressive result for a business that began as an independent Wellington agency nearly 40 years ago and has subsequently operated under three identities: Leaders Real Estate, RE/MAX Leaders and Ray White Leaders.
Wellington group takes out international sales title
Ray White Leaders Group received the award for the highest number of sales by a group.
The award-winning operation comprises:
- Hutt City
- Johnsonville
- Karori
- Khandallah
- Kilbirnie
- Upper Hutt
- Wairarapa
- Wellington City
While Ray White Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches was named the overall top group, the Wellington operation secured the separate—and highly significant—title based on completed sales.
That distinction matters.
Dollar-value awards can naturally favour agencies operating in extremely expensive prestige markets. An award based on the number of sales reflects an organisation’s ability to generate listings, maintain market share and consistently convert business across multiple offices.
For a New Zealand operation to lead the Ray White network across Australia and New Zealand represents a substantial achievement.
The result follows a strong year of industry recognition across several major brands. Property Noise recently examined which companies and agents won big at the 2026 REINZ Awards.
Where Leaders began
Leaders Real Estate traces its origins to Wellington in 1987.
The company behind the brand, Leaders Real Estate (1987) Limited, was incorporated in February of that year. Peter Scott, Rob Garlick and other long-serving Wellington real estate figures helped develop the organisation into one of the capital’s dominant agency groups.
Unlike an agency created through a recent corporate merger or overseas acquisition, Leaders grew as a locally owned Wellington business.
It expanded across Wellington City, the northern suburbs, Hutt Valley, Kāpiti, Wairarapa and other areas of the lower North Island.
By the early 2000s, Leaders reportedly had 21 offices, approximately 250 salespeople and a significant share of the greater Wellington property market.
The first transformation: RE/MAX Leaders
The company’s first major franchise transformation occurred in 2003.
After operating as a large independent agency, Leaders joined the international RE/MAX network and became RE/MAX Leaders Real Estate.
The move was intended to combine Leaders’ established Wellington business with the international reach, systems and branding of RE/MAX.
However, Leaders did not simply disappear into the global franchise.
The local company retained its identity, and for many Wellington residents, “Leaders” remained the most recognisable part of the name—even when the international RE/MAX branding appeared alongside it.
The business continued operating as RE/MAX Leaders for more than a decade.
The move from RE/MAX to Ray White
Another major change arrived in February 2017.
Leaders left the RE/MAX network and rebranded its sales offices under Ray White. It was one of the most significant franchise movements in New Zealand real estate at the time.
When the change was announced, the Leaders network included offices across Wellington, Kāpiti-Mana, Horowhenua, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay.
The group reportedly had approximately 280 salespeople working through 15 offices and seven supporting branches.
The familiar RE/MAX branding was replaced by Ray White’s distinctive yellow identity.
Importantly, this was a franchise and branding partnership—not simply Ray White purchasing the Wellington company and removing its local identity.
Leaders remained locally owned and operated while gaining access to Ray White’s international network, technology, marketing systems, training and referral opportunities.
That is why the business continues to trade as Ray White Leaders, rather than losing the Leaders name entirely.
The survival of Leaders provides an interesting contrast with the changing fortunes of other major agency brands. Property Noise recently investigated how LJ Hooker went from 101 New Zealand offices to a fraction of its former footprint.
Leaders keeps its Wellington identity
The Ray White partnership has allowed Leaders to retain the name it built in Wellington while operating under one of Australasia’s largest real estate networks.
The legal agency name, Leaders Real Estate (1987) Limited, remains visible on office and property material.
This creates an unusual structure: a longstanding Wellington-owned company with its own history operating publicly through the Ray White franchise.
In 2025, Ray White announced that Leaders had recommitted to the network for another term. At that point, the wider group was reported to extend across Wellington, Kāpiti-Mana, Horowhenua, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay, with 24 branches and 187 salespeople.
The latest international award suggests that the relationship continues to deliver considerable sales volume.
A changing office footprint
The group recognised in the 2026 awards comprises eight operations centred on Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa.
That represents a more tightly defined footprint than the broad lower North Island network described when Leaders joined Ray White in 2017.
Real estate groups regularly change as offices open, close, merge, change ownership or begin operating under separate business structures. Franchise awards also distinguish between individual offices, groups and multi-partner organisations.
The Leaders identity, however, has survived all those structural and branding changes.
From an independent Wellington company to RE/MAX Leaders and then Ray White Leaders, the business has remained one of the capital’s most visible residential real estate names.
Its continued strength is particularly notable when the wider industry is asking whether New Zealand’s biggest real estate agency brands have reached their growth ceiling.
Winning in one of New Zealand’s toughest markets
The award becomes even more significant when Wellington’s current property conditions are considered.
The capital has experienced one of the country’s deepest housing corrections. Employment uncertainty, public-sector restructuring, higher mortgage costs, increasing listings and cautious buyers have all reduced market confidence.
Property Noise has previously examined why Wellington real estate is in serious trouble in 2026.
More recent data showed Wellington properties taking a record 60 days to sell during August, while regional values remained approximately 30% below their peak.
Our analysis of the record-low sales conditions affecting Auckland and Wellington highlighted just how little urgency remains among buyers.
Against that backdrop, recording the highest number of group sales across the Ray White network is no small achievement.
It suggests Leaders has been able to capture a substantial share of the available transactions, even as Wellington’s overall pool of sales has remained limited.
More agents chasing fewer transactions
New Zealand’s agency industry is becoming increasingly competitive.
There are now more licensed salespeople competing at a time when national sales volumes have been declining. That places enormous pressure on newer agents and smaller offices without established databases, strong referral networks or financial reserves.
Property Noise recently explored this imbalance in Too Many Agents, Not Enough Sales? The Numbers Behind NZ Real Estate’s Brutal 2026.
Low-volume markets tend to reward scale.
Large groups can share technology, marketing, management, training, databases and administrative support. Established brands are also more likely to attract listings during uncertain conditions.
The Leaders result demonstrates how powerful those advantages can become when transactions are difficult to secure.
Kiwi agents also claimed individual honours
Ray White Leaders was not the only New Zealand success at the international awards.
Christchurch agent Holly Jones of Ray White New Brighton was named the network’s Top Salesperson by Number of Sales.
Ray White Rangiora and Ray White Whangārei were recognised among the top Clients’ Choice offices, while Habeeb Urrahman of Ray White Parnell and Stuart Morris of Ray White Rangiora received individual Clients’ Choice recognition.
The overall Top Salesperson award went to Rochelle Adgo of Ray White Mitchelton in Brisbane.
Ray White Double Bay was named the top individual office, while Ray White Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches secured the overall top-group award.
What does an award actually tell consumers?
Industry awards are valuable recognition, but consumers should understand exactly what is being measured.
The Leaders award recognises transaction numbers. It does not automatically establish which agency achieved the highest average sale price, lowest commission, shortest selling time or greatest difference above valuation.
Those measures can produce very different winners.
Sellers should still compare:
- Proposed commission and administration charges
- Marketing and photography costs
- Local sales evidence
- The individual agent’s recent performance
- Communication and reporting
- Auction or deadline-sale recommendations
- Expected campaign length
- What happens if the property does not sell
Property Noise recently asked whether traditional percentage-based real estate commissions remain justified, particularly when the final fee can exceed $30,000.
A major sales-volume award is unquestionably impressive, but homeowners should still choose an agent based on the complete service and value being offered.
The Property Noise view
The Ray White Leaders story is not simply about another real estate agency receiving another trophy.
It is the story of a Wellington independent that has repeatedly adapted to a changing industry.
Leaders began locally, joined RE/MAX, later moved to Ray White and continued evolving its office network. Through each transformation, its local name and ownership identity survived.
Nearly four decades after the company was formed, the former Wellington independent has now finished number one for group sales volume across one of Australasia’s largest real estate networks.
The result is even more impressive because Wellington remains one of New Zealand’s most difficult property markets.
Whatever anyone thinks about the constant awards, rankings and self-promotion within real estate, this represents a significant achievement for a locally owned Wellington business.