News Corp Australia will resume printing of three community papers in lucrative Sydney real estate markets this week.
The Wentworth Courier, The Mosman Daily and North Shore Times will return.
Not coincidentally, these papers were among the few community print titles to be spared from News Corp recent cull, where 76 papers moved to digital-only.
These three papers reach 85 per cent of households in Sydney’s northern and eastern suburbs.
“They’ve got a very strong brand, they’ve got high readership and engagement. And it’s an audience our advertisers like,” News Corp Australia GM of real estate Clare Starling explains.
“People are still buying and selling. This market’s very, very vibrant, they’re still out doing things.”
The company, which is also publisher of The Australian, is a big player in the real estate market, thanks to its near 62 per cent stake in Australia’s biggest online property listing company, REA Group.
Tim McIntyre, editor of the three papers, said the real estate markets’ resilience in these affluent areas streamlined the decision to recommence print.
“So far they’ve been extremely resilient,” he explains. “There was probably a brief moment where some price expectations for house sales came down slightly. But since then, they’re back and they’re back with a boom.
“COVID is a part of society now; we’ve got to keep moving on and the demand is there to buy and sell property, and to read about beautiful homes in these areas and to show pride in your local areas as well.”
