LJ Hooker

The first LJ Hooker office was opened in Maroubra, New South Wales in 1928. Following the Depression, the company expanded and opened offices in Sydney, Kensington, Kingsford and Randwick. In 1936, LJ Hooker purchased the real estate business and offices of Woods & Co. in Kensington and Kingsford. In 1938, Rex Investments is registered and purchased real-estate agencies and hotels around Australia. The following year, LJ Hooker established its headquarters in Pitt Street, Sydney by buying H. L. Cross & Co., a city agency.

In 1946, LJ Hooker bought the real estate business of Harold Bray Pty Ltd in Bondi Beach. In 1947, the company was floated on the Sydney Stock Exchange. The following year, LJ Hooker purchased F. Egan & Son, a real estate agency in Bondi Junction. In 1949, the company expanded into hotel brokerage.

In 1950, the tenth office was opened in Crows Nest and in 1951 the Manly office was opened after the purchase of Thorn Coleman & Co. LJ Hooker's expansion continued, and by 1953 the agency was the largest real estate agency in Australia. In 1955 Hooker Rex was established for the development of new homes in Batemans Bay, Kogarah and the Gold Coast through Hooker Rex Pty Ltd. In 1958, the company's name was changed to L. J. Hooker Investment Corporation Ltd. In 1959, the Hooker Finance company was established.

In 1960, LJ Hooker became Australia's first national real estate agency network. The following year, Hooker Projects began developing nursing homes, motels and other projects. In 1963, Hooker House was opened in Sydney. Hooker Project offices were opened in Melbourne in 1966, Brisbane in 1967, Perth in 1968, and Townsville and Canberra in 1969.

In 1968, the company's name changed to Hooker Corporation Ltd. In 1969, Hooker Home Units was established, which specialised in building home units and town houses.

Leslie Joseph Hooker died in 1976. In 1985, George Herscu bought the Hooker Group for $450 million. In 1989, LJ Hooker owed $1.77 billion, and was purchased by Suncorp Metway.

In 2009, Janusz Hooker, Leslie Hooker's grandson, formed a consortium with other buyers and bought the company back from Suncorp-Metway for $67 million. In 2015, Janusz Hooker and other shareholders bought out the minority shareholders to consolidate ownership of the company.

LJ Hooker has also established an independent incorporated legal practice trading as LJ Hooker Conveyancing NSW, which is a division of Guardian Conveyancers Pty Ltd (ACN 136 790 022). The business is independently owned and operated under licence from LJ Hooker Limited. LJ Hooker Conveyancing is located in Sydney. In Western Australia it uses LJ Hooker Settlements to do their conveyancing.

In 1996, LJ Hooker purchased the Challenge Realty Group in New Zealand and in 1998 they rebranded it as LJ Hooker. In 2003, LJ Hooker purchased the real estate franchise group Olsen & Everson. In 2002, LJ Hooker opened its first offices in Indonesia, and in 2004, LJ Hooker opened offices in Mumbai, India, and Shanghai.

In October 2004, Grahame Cooke stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Warren McCarthy.

In October 2009, Suncorp confirmed it sold its LJ Hooker real estate chain business to Janusz Hooker, the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker, for $67 million. In July 2015, he also bought out the investors to take full control of the group.

In November 2010, LJ Hooker acquired Harveys Real Estate Group in New Zealand.