Record-breaking US luxury agents to lead high-level real estate summit
From record-breaking US agents to leadership strategists, AREC 2026 is positioning itself as a must-attend event for ambitious property professionals.
2 min
Some of the world’s most recognisable names in luxury real estate will headline this year’s Australasian Real Estate Conference (AREC), as organisers sharpen the event’s focus on practical skills, performance and long-term growth.
Scheduled for May 24 and 25 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, AREC 2026 will bring together high-profile agents, business leaders and performance mentors at a time organisers describe as one of its most complex market environments in recent memory.
Izzy Savva, Head of Total Real Estate Training, says the program has been shaped by feedback from agents seeking guidance on how to stay competitive amid ongoing change.
“After listening closely to agents in this current market, it became clear that now is the time to focus on the fundamentals — the core skills that build sustainable careers,” she said.
“AREC is designed to focus on what really drives success in real estate: client relationships, negotiation, listing mastery, and personal growth.”
Among the headline speakers are internationally renowned US agents Josh Altman and Josh Flagg, known globally through Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.
Both have built careers representing some of California’s most prestigious homes and have collectively transacted billions of dollars in property.
Flagg will appear in a Q&A session with AREC founder John McGrath, offering insights into reputation-driven business, marketing and client relationships.
Altman, who has sold more than $9 billion in real estate during his career, is recognised for consistently achieving record-setting results in highly competitive luxury markets.
They will be joined by Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker’s Tim Smith Real Estate Group, who has achieved more than $6 billion in sales and built a reputation for strategic marketing and negotiation expertise across Orange County’s sought-after coastal communities.
Beyond sales performance, AREC 2026 will also explore the mindset and leadership skills required to succeed at the top end of the market.
Performance strategist Phill Nosworthy, leadership expert Holly Ransom and high-performance mentor Ben Crowe are among the confirmed speakers, alongside Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks, whose research focuses on negotiation and communication in high-stakes environments.
Entrepreneur and endurance athlete Jesse Itzler will also join the program virtually, bringing insights from his experience building and scaling global businesses.
According to John McGrath, the event is designed to deliver more than inspiration.
“The real estate industry is facing challenges like never before, and agents need to sharpen the fundamentals while embracing new growth opportunities,” he said.
“AREC is exactly the kind of event that helps our industry step back, reflect, and come away with strategies they can implement immediately.”
A record-breaking $11 million sale at The Centennial Collection has set a new benchmark for luxury apartment living in Bondi Junction.
As interest rates, inflation and market sentiment fluctuate, investors are being urged to focus on data, not panic.
Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.
3 min
Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.
Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.
Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.
“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.
“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”
Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.
Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.
“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.
Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.
He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.
“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.
“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”
Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.
He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.
McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.
While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.
“People are looking for value for money,” she said.
She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.
“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.
The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.
“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.
He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.
While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.
“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.
Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.
Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.
McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.
Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.
“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.
“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”
As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.
Powerhouse real estate couple Avi Khan and Kaylea Sayer welcome their daughter while balancing record-breaking careers, proving success and family can grow side by side.
BMW has unveiled the Neue Klasse in Munich, marking its biggest investment to date and a new era of electrification, digitalisation and sustainable design.
