Major brokerage Inovayt has expanded into South Australia for the first time, acquiring the mortgage arm of a large Adelaide-based real estate business as part of its national growth strategy.
Victorian-headquartered brokerage Inovayt, one of the Top 25 Brokerages in the country, has continued its national expansion by acquiring Fresh Home Loans, the finance arm of local real estate company Ouwens Casserly Real Estate.
Ouwens Casserly operates across eight offices in the South Australian capital and employs around 60–70 real estate agents, providing Inovayt with an established referral network and immediate scale in the local market.
The acquisition, completed in December, brings an existing broker, Sally Johns, into the Inovayt group and comes with a loan book of around $150 million.
Fresh Home Loans is now being rebranded as Inovayt Adelaide, aligning it with the group’s national brand, which also operates in Victoria and Queensland.
The Adelaide operation will function as a stand-alone business within the broader Inovayt group, consistent with the brokerage’s structure in other states.
A second broker is set to join the Adelaide operation on Monday (19 January), as the brokerage looks to build capacity to service the real estate group’s client base.
According to Inovayt managing director Nick Reilly, Inovayt’s Adelaide entry has been designed as a conservative, relationship-led expansion, rather than a large-scale acquisition, leveraging an existing broker, an established real estate partnership, and immediate demand for finance support across multiple offices.
The brokerage MD said he expects the existing broker to increase productivity under Inovayt’s systems and support model, while the addition of a second broker is aimed at ensuring the real estate relationship can be serviced effectively from day one.
Speaking to The Adviser, Reilly said the Adelaide move was deliberately structured to balance risk and opportunity and builds on similar moves in other states.
“For us, it’s a really sensible, call it conservative, move into Adelaide – being able to go in there with an existing broker and an existing real estate network to service,” he said.
“There’s probably work for three brokers across that network, and without back-end support it’s just very hard.
“The existing broker will come into our business and go to another level from the productivity gains she’ll be able to plug into.”
He said Inovayt Adelaide would operate under the group’s national brand and form part of a longer-term plan to establish two to three partners in each state.
“Adelaide was our second target post-Queensland,” Reilly explained and highlighted that Inovayt opened its first Queensland presence prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and added to it in January 2025, when it welcomed Andre Dixon and his team to the brokerage.
Dixon was the first broker to join Inovayt under its partner model, which now includes more than 11 shareholders.
Nationally, Inovayt now has a team of around 50 people, including 17 brokers.
The South Australian expansion forms part of a broader ambition to build a multistate footprint, with the group continuing to grow both organically and through selective mergers and acquisitions.
Reilly flagged NSW as a future target once the Adelaide business is operating successfully and is also reportedly assessing opportunities in Western Australia, potentially through remote servicing models.
“But our number one priority is making sure Adelaide works and Adelaide is a success, because that really gives you confidence to then go and replicate that elsewhere,” Reilly said.
The brokerage’s approach reflects a wider trend of large brokerages seeking to diversify geographically to reduce reliance on a single market, while also using technology and operational scale to support expansion.
Noting the trend, Reilly said expanding across states had both defensive and offensive benefits for large brokerages, particularly in managing fixed costs and market cycles.
“As you get bigger, you need some defence. You don’t want to be tied to one market,” he said.
“What was meant to be defensive for us in Queensland actually ended up being offensive because of what that market did! With Adelaide, it’s similar – defensive, but with plenty of upside.”
However, Reilly warned that geographic expansion was not suitable for all brokerages and required a clear strategy, resources, and leadership on the ground.
“You’ve got to be a size where you can actually service another state properly,” Reilly said.
“If you just think you can hire someone over there and hope it works, it won’t. You need relationships, leadership, and a really clear plan.”
You can find out more about Inovayt and how Nick Reilly runs the leading brokerage in The Adviser’s Elite Broker podcast recording with him from August 2025.
You can watch the episode on YouTube above or on your device by clicking here. You can also listen to the audio-only version via your podcast player of choice or in the embedded player below:
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