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Matthew Sullivan
Despite widespread reports of numerous agents exiting the industry in recent months, a vast majority is quite satisfied with their current occupation, new research has revealed.
According to Real Estate Business’ inaugural Quarterly Sentiment Survey, 86 per cent of the 358 respondents said they are not considering leaving the real estate industry during the next quarter.
Anthony Toop, director of Adelaide-based Toop&Toop Real Estate, was not convinced by these figures and questioned whether less agents would exit the profession.
“Unless the Reserve Bank cuts rates, and the international economy stabilises, I would suggest these figures are extremely optimistic,” Mr Toop told Real Estate Business.
“The real estate industry has changed swiftly and we are now facing a whole new game.
“Most of those agents that exited the industry earlier in the year were not prepared for the challenges ahead, but it seems a lot of those people who were going to leave already have, so this is a boost to the professionalism of the industry.”
While most agents are not considering leaving the industry, few principals and licencees are planning to hire staff over the coming months.
Only one in five business owners is planning to hire staff over the coming quarter, with 71.5 per cent intending to keep staff levels the same.
Mr Toop believes the way principals view the industry has changed dramatically, placing more emphasis on the standards and professionalism of all recruits.
“Today is all about quality over quantity,” Mr Toop said.
“Now is not the period to be hiring just anybody, as not everybody is suited to this market. I expect to see a significant increase in the quality of agents over the coming 12 months.”
But despite this, recruitment specialist Sharon Bennie believes recruitment activity is still considerably high.
“Towards the end of spring, heading into the New Year is certainly our most buoyant period,” Ms Bennie told Real Estate Business.
“We tend to see a lot of activity with sales agents, as they finish off their spring stock and look to start the New Year in a fresh business.”
Ms Bennie's business is largely focused on real estate operations within 15km of the Sydney CBD.
The Real Estate Business Quarterly Sentiment Survey is an online-based survey. The results to the latest survey were based on 358 replies, with the majority of respondents coming from the residential sales and property management sectors (86.6 per cent). More than half were principals (54.8 per cent) and licensees (11.8 per cent), and another 22.8 per cent were sales representatives.
Responses were received in the first half of October.
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