Barfoot & Thompson

What Barfoot & Thompson does

Barfoot & Thompson is a privately held New Zealand real estate agency headquartered in Auckland, founded in 1923, and operating as the dominant player in its served regions. The company runs two primary business lines: (1) residential and commercial property sales, executed through a network of 80+ branches and 1,800+ salespeople across Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato, generating roughly one in three Auckland residential home sales; and (2) rental property management, where it is New Zealand's largest private residential property manager with 20,000+ properties under management and ~17,500 of those concentrated in Auckland at any one time. Revenue is generated through transaction-based commissions on sales plus recurring management fees on rental portfolios, with commission rates published transparently on the company website. Supporting service lines include Body Corporate management, Commercial Property Management, a dedicated Projects division for new developments and off-the-plan sales, auctions, and rental appraisals.

The operating model is a traditional sales-led agency distribution layered with content marketing (monthly market reports, regional suburb guides, and the Property Management Insider newsletter) feeding leads into the branch network. Underlying technology consists of a real estate listing and transaction management platform and a property management system purpose-built for volume, accuracy, and compliance at scale, with no public API or documented AI/ML capabilities. The leadership team includes CEO Chris Dobbie, Managing Director Peter Thompson, Director Kiri Barfoot, and General Manager Property Management Anil Anna. The company is privately held with no disclosed parent, no institutional investors, and no public funding history, and it maintains an ongoing strategic alliance with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, most recently recognized via the 2025-2026 International Property Awards and the 2026 President's Service Award to the CEO.

Name

Barfoot & Thompson

Legal name

Barfoot & Thompson

Website

https://barfoot.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Barfoot & Thompson is a privately held New Zealand real estate agency headquartered in Auckland, operating 80+ branches and 1,800+ salespeople across the Upper North Island to deliver residential and commercial sales, plus the country's largest private residential property management portfolio of 20,000+ rentals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Real Estate Sales Commission: Commission-based revenue from residential and commercial property sales. The company publishes commission rates on its website and operates through a network of 1,800+ salespeople across 80+ branches.
2. Property Management Services: Property management fees for managing rental properties on behalf of landlords. Barfoot & Thompson is New Zealand's largest private residential property management company, managing 20,000+ rental properties.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Barfoot & Thompson is a privately-held New Zealand real estate agency providing residential and commercial property sales, rental property management, body corporate management, and new development project marketing across the Upper North Island (Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato) through a network of 80+ branches and 1,800+ salespeople. The firm also manages more than 20,000 rental properties on behalf of landlords, making it New Zealand's largest private residential property management company.

Product overview

Barfoot & Thompson is a traditional real estate agency offering a unified portfolio of real estate services. The core offerings include residential property sales and rental property management as interconnected services, supported by specialized divisions for commercial properties, body corporate services, and new development projects. The agency operates as a single brand across its network of 80+ branches with 1,800+ salespeople, providing integrated property sales, property management, and ancillary real estate services to the Upper North Island of New Zealand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Property Sales
• Rental Property Management
• Commercial Property Services
• Body Corporate Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Manages over 20,000 rental properties across New Zealand
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Leading Real Estate Companies of the WorldcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Barfoot & Thompson is a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, an international network of independent real estate companies. The company's CEO Chris Dobbie was awarded the President's Service Award by this network, indicating a significant ongoing partnership relationship.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ray White: Large Australasian real estate franchise group with strong New Zealand presence across residential sales, property management and commercial real estate. Directly comparable to Barfoot & Thompson in business model, customer base (residential buyers, sellers, landlords), and commission-based revenue mix, with overlapping Auckland and Upper North Island coverage.
• Harcourts: New Zealand-founded international real estate franchise network offering residential sales, rentals and property management services. Direct competitor with similar branch-based sales-led model and significant Auckland and Northland presence, making it the closest comparable in product, scale and target customer.
• LJ Hooker: Established Australasian real estate brand with a New Zealand network offering residential sales, property management and commercial services. Comparable in that it operates a branch-based agent network competing for the same residential sellers, buyers and landlord customers in Auckland and other major NZ centers.
• Bayleys: New Zealand-headquartered full-service real estate agency covering residential, commercial, rural and property management. Comparable in offering an integrated sales-plus-management suite and competing in the same Auckland and Upper North Island markets as Barfoot & Thompson.

Broad incumbents

• Sotheby's International Realty: Global luxury real estate network with affiliate operations in New Zealand, accessed via Barfoot & Thompson's membership in Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Comparable as a higher-end residential sales competitor targeting premium property segments and cross-border referrals.
• Coldwell Banker: Global residential real estate franchise network affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World alongside Barfoot & Thompson. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering residential sales and property management through a large agent network targeting similar consumer customers.
• RE/MAX: Large international real estate franchise operating in New Zealand with a sales-led agent model. Comparable in that it competes for the same residential sales customers and offers property management services, but operates with a franchise rather than company-owned branch model.

Emerging players

• Compass: US-based tech-forward residential real estate brokerage that has invested heavily in agent productivity technology and platform-based operations. Comparable as a strategic contrast point for how a modern, technology-centric brokerage model challenges traditional branch-based incumbents like Barfoot & Thompson.

Others

• Trade Me Property: New Zealand's dominant online property marketplace and listing portal. Comparable as a critical ecosystem participant and indirect competitor — while not a brokerage, it influences how Auckland and NZ buyers, sellers and renters search for property and increasingly competes for ancillary services.
• realestate.co.nz: Major New Zealand property listing portal aggregating residential sale and rental listings from agencies including Barfoot & Thompson. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem enabler whose evolving consumer-facing features and agent-tooling could disintermediate parts of the traditional brokerage value chain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/barfootthompson
• Facebookfacebook.com/barfootandthompson

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barfoot & Thompson