Agents' income down as dwelling transactions slip to GFC levels

Jonathan ChancellorOctober 12, 2011

The reluctance of home owners to sell – and home buyers to purchase – has cut possibly 18% off estate agent incomes in the past financial year.

“It is no wonder that many property professionals are experiencing financial challenges,” RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher says.

 

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His latest research shows the dollar value of residential property transactions across Australia over the 2010-11 financial year fell 18%.

Queensland, with a 27% drop, had the largest fall in the total value of sales, followed by Western Australia, with a 22% drop.

South Australia recorded the only increase – a very mild 1.3% gain.

The total dwelling sales over the 2010-11 financial year equated to $193 billion – the lowest since 2008-09 during the global financial crisis, when total values fell by about 14%.

Houses accounted for $142 billion and units for about $51 billion.

Kusher says that the annual change in annual dwelling sales value and the annual volume showed the two measures almost in perfect unison.

“For the 10-year analysis, the correlation between the two is 95% and shouldn’t come as a surprise, because sales volumes are currently sitting at a similar level to what was recorded during the depths of the financial crisis.”

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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