Ashburton real estate agent Chris Murdoch has won the individual rural salesperson award at the REINZ Awards of Excellence.

The awards celebrate outstanding achievement across New Zealand real estate and recognise people, partnerships, teams, offices and agencies delivering exceptional outcomes for clients and communities during the year.

It was one of two awards received by the Property Brokers Ashburton team at a gala dinner in Auckland last week.

The other was Residential Office of the Year – Small – Highest Sales Volume.

Murdoch, a veteran realtor said it was ‘‘quite humbling‘‘ to receive his accolade.

‘‘To a degree it's about the clients, not me. I have always been well supported in Mid Canterbury,’’ he said.

Murdoch has spent more than 35 years selling farms across Mid Canterbury, after coming into real estate from running his own piggery and agricultural spraying business during the tough farming conditions of the late 1980s.

He said growing up on a farm in Mayfield and then going on to be a spraying contractor in the area for 13 years, meant he has always understood the area, farming and farmers.

He said farm were originally large, then for a while some reduced in size but are now big, and getting bigger.

‘‘There are many successfully run family dairy business in Mid Canterbury."

‘‘Mid Canterbury used to have a variety of farms, but that has changed. Dairy is still strong but arable is struggling.‘‘

He has worked with multiple generations of farming families and has had a front-row seat to major changes across the rural sector, from the dairy boom of the 1990s and growth of larger farming operations through to changing patterns of family farm ownership and succession.

‘‘In the 90's there were a lot of dairy farmers moving down from the North Island,‘‘ he said.

‘‘In the 35-plus years I have been in rural real estate, I have dealt with those same people over the years and then selling their farms for them at the other end, I've dealt with their children as well.’’

He also worked with fellow realtors Paul Cunneen and the late Roger Letham for many years.

‘‘Real Estate has changed hugely...when I first started there were no cell phones.

‘‘I would go home after work and get on the landline at about 6pm to 9.30pm and that would be every night.’’

Computers where not a thing either

‘‘The office would get a listing and hand it to me. I would then type it up, photocopy it and hand write the envelopes to be sent out. Sometimes there could have been up to 100 envelopes to send out."

He said his family, especially wife Leonie, had put up with a lot over the years.

‘‘If you let it, rural real estate can be 24/7 with no weekends.’’

‘‘The Ashburton office is great,’’ he said.

‘‘There aren't many real estate offices who could say that’’

Branch manager Murray Young said it was great to be finalists in both Residential Small Office of the Year, and Residential Small Office of the Year - Highest Sales Volume categories.

He said winning the latter was really pleasing and a reward for all our teams hard work over the last 12 months.

‘‘We are a small residential office who has won several awards in the past,’’ Young said.

He said nominations were submitted by head office.

‘‘We go up there not knowing and it was nice to finish the night with an award.’’

‘‘We have never been one to push award stuff, but we are quietly chuffed to win.’’

He said the team "work hard and are consistently good.’’

‘‘Our branch has had good people for a very long time, we have always been like that.’’

‘‘They get on and do their business with respect, not only for the people they deal with, but also the people they work with.

‘‘I think they are really important things.’’

‘‘It makes the world a much nicer place to be, when you actually don't mind coming to work.’’