PRD’s largest Australian office goes independent

PRD’s largest office has left the national network to launch independent agency COLLAB Real Estate, with plans to expand its footprint across the Gold Coast.

Formerly PRD Burleigh, the business had ranked as the network’s number one performing office for several years before directors John Fischer and Braiden Smith made the decision to establish their own brand.

PRD has more than 85 offices nationally across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the ACT.

COLLAB retains the agency’s residential sales and property management operations, including around 1,100 residential properties under management.

The group currently operates from two locations in Burleigh Heads and an office at Tallebudgera, servicing the acreage and hinterland market west of the M1. A fourth office in the up-and-coming inner-city acreage suburb of Mudgeeraba is due to open in early November.

Mr Fischer said independence had become a logical next step as the business grew and its ambitions extended beyond its traditional geographic footprint.

“Going independent gives us greater freedom over where and how we grow, and allows us to make those decisions locally,” he said.

“It also gives us more control over how we market property, how we position the business and how we respond to opportunities as the market changes.”

Mr Smith said the changing profile of the Gold Coast market had also influenced the timing of the move.

“The Gold Coast has matured enormously and the clients and properties we’re representing have evolved with it,” he said.

“We’re seeing more affluent buyers and families choosing the southern Gold Coast, significantly higher property values and a level of product that wasn’t as prevalent here a decade ago.

“We felt the business had reached a point where the brand needed to evolve as well, particularly in terms of how we position and market property at the higher end.”

The rebrand also gives the business greater control over its visual identity and marketing, with COLLAB positioned as a more contemporary, premium brand while continuing to service the broader residential market.

COLLAB will continue to operate across all residential price points while increasing its focus on luxury real estate, building on recent results including the $30 million sale of a two-level penthouse at One Burleigh.

Mr Smith said confidence at the top end of the Gold Coast market was one of the clearest indicators of how far the region had evolved.

“People are now confident enough in the Gold Coast to spend $30 million in Burleigh Heads rather than feeling those sorts of price points belong only in the capital cities,” he said.

“You’re also seeing significant luxury development along the coast and high-end estates through the hinterland. The depth and sophistication of the market has changed substantially.”

Expansion into new markets and opportunities to grow the team will form part of COLLAB’s next phase.

“We’re ambitious about expanding COLLAB and creating opportunities for the people already within the business, as well as good agents who see value in the way we operate,” Mr Smith said.

“The focus is on the right people and the right markets, rather than growth for the sake of it.”

That growth will be underpinned by a collaborative operating model, with agents encouraged to combine geographic expertise, buyer relationships and listing opportunities.

“If an agent has an opportunity in an area where someone else has deeper market knowledge, we want those people working together,” Mr Fischer said.

“We’ve already seen transactions come together because one agent has the seller and someone else in the business has the buyer.

“In a more challenging market, that becomes even more important. You need to be able to draw on the relationships and expertise of the whole business rather than relying on one individual.”

The Burleigh business has a history stretching back around 50 years from the same beachfront location, beginning as Esplanade Realty before later becoming PRD.

Mr Fischer, Mr Smith and a former business partner acquired the business in 2020, when the team numbered fewer than 10 people. It has since grown to a team of 60, alongside the expansion of its sales footprint and property management portfolio.

Mr Smith said COLLAB was designed to build on that history while giving the business greater control over what came next.

“We’re not starting another agency from scratch,” he said.

“We’re taking an established business, the team and relationships behind it, and creating a structure that gives us more freedom over where it goes next.

“For us, that’s what independence is really about.”