Harcourts Property Centre has officially launched 2026, celebrating its 10-year anniversary with its most impactful annual Launch event to date, a day designed to inspire, challenge and invest deeply in its people.
“Harcourts Property Centre has been delivering its own Launch for the past six years, and the 2026 edition was by far our best yet,” said Sam Devlin, Co-Managing Director of Harcourts Property Centre.
Alongside fellow Co-Managing Directors Aaron Brooks and Nathan O’Neill, Mr Devlin was welcomed to the stage by MC David Lutteral, whose trademark humour and relaxed energy set the tone for a high-performance yet light-hearted day.
Reflecting on 2025, Mr O’Neill highlighted a milestone year for the group, which eclipsed the $1 billion mark for the first time, transacting more than 1,200 properties and delivering $1.5 billion in sales, all in a market that experienced approximately 25 per cent fewer listings than previous years.
“This performance was driven by three key factors,” Mr O’Neill said. “First, the professionalism of our team, not only sustaining fees but increasing them against industry trends. Second, doing so in a materially tougher marketplace. And third, the growth of our people, with 94 new team members joining across sales, property management, administration, operations, management and marketing.”
While celebrating the results, Mr O’Neill reinforced that the business remains far from complacent, with a continued commitment to raising standards and improving opportunities for its people.
Looking ahead, Mr Devlin and Mr Brooks outlined a clear and disciplined strategy for 2026, centred on three core priorities.
“If you focus on three things relentlessly and with intent, you’ll achieve far more than trying to do ten things poorly,” Mr Devlin said.
Key initiatives include the rollout of a new group website, expanded strategic partnerships with Birdeye, View Media Group and Chunky Duck, and a bold accountability commitment to deliver 100 leads per week across the network, equating to one appraisal per agent, per week, across its 11 offices.
Leadership also emphasised that growth from within remains the group’s fundamental driver.
“If we can’t improve the capability of our existing people, there’s no point simply adding more,” Mr Devlin said. “Our priority is creating access, accountability and opportunity for those already on the journey with us.”
Mr Brooks reinforced the importance of mindset and self-leadership, noting that sustainable success begins with mental clarity, self-belief and the confidence to deliver the world’s best property experience.
The day balanced strategy with practical skill-building, featuring live, unscripted role-play sessions from Pat Ivey, Carmen Briggs, Brad Johnston, Ben Carroll and Dimitri Loukaras, who took the stage in front of more than 250 peers to tackle real-world objections and scenarios faced daily by agents.
A highlight of the day was an intimate fireside conversation between Mr Devlin and D’Leanne Lewis, CEO of Laing+Simmons Double Bay, exploring elite performance habits, daily rituals and the realities of balancing a high-performing career with single parenthood.
The event also featured keynote sessions from Matt Hall, Top Gun fighter pilot and Red Bull Air Race champion, who led an immersive session on decision-making under pressure, accountability and high-performance debriefing, and Brooke Hanson, whose story of resilience and perseverance on her journey to Olympic gold delivered a standing ovation and a fitting conclusion to the day.
Branded ‘The Next Chapter’, the 2026 Launch also paid tribute to the group’s 10-year journey, featuring video and photographic moments spanning a decade of growth, challenges and shared success.
More than a strategy day, the event reinforced Harcourts Property Centre’s reputation as a business that invests in its people professionally, personally and culturally.
“This is about creating an environment where great people can do their best work,” Mr Devlin said. “If you care for your people first, everything else follows.”
