Who is the typical Melbourne real estate agent?: Angela Minn
In 2011, there were nearly 13,900 self-identified real estate agents in Victoria of which approximately 80 % lived in Melbourne. It should be noted that these are based on self-identified real estate agents as per the 2011 Census and do not necessarily imply that they are appropriately qualified.
There were over 11,100 real estate agents living in Melbourne with approximately 40 % residing in outer Melbourne. The remaining 60 % were relatively evenly distributed between inner and middle Melbourne suburbs.
But who is the typical Melbourne real estate agent?The research shows that it isn’t exactly like Phil Dunphy from the comedy series “Modern Family”.
The typical real estate agent is a 42 year old male, born in Australia. He is married with children and lives in ahouse – a rather large one. The typical real estate agent’s home has three bedrooms with 40 % having four or more bedrooms, which is almost double the Melbourne average of 28 %.
A large home is unsurprising given his household is larger than the Melburnian average – 3 compared to 2.6 people. But he can afford to have a large home given he earns roughly 80 % more tha nthe average Melbourne household, withan annual pay packet of $125,600.
However, earning a higher income comes at a cost as he works nearl yeight hours more per week than the average Melburnian, approximately42 hours. While that is his average, one in five real estate agents workover 55 hours per week, including weekends due to auctions.
Given our agent works pretty long hours, it is unsurprising that he has less time to contribute to domestic work. Approximately 58% of real estate agents in Melbourne do less than five hours per week of house work.
Working in real estate has led him to own real estate, at least partially. He knows that “rent money is dead money” and is happier paying off a mortgage than renting. More than half (52%) of Melbourne’s real estate agents are paying off a mortgage compared to 38% of Melbourne households.
Though he doesn’t fully own the homehe lives in, the suggestion is he may have used his high income and equity in his home to borrow more money to buy investment properties.
Fewer than a quarter (24%) of Melbourne’s real estate agents own their home outright compared to a third of other Melbourne households. He pays on average $2,300 per month on his mortgage which is 28% higher than the typical Melbourne household. If he was renting, he would be paying on average $385 per week, also 28% higher than the typical Melbourne household.
He drives a car to work. Cars are important in real estate and you may notice that having a driving licence is ften necessary before applying fora real estate job.
But why stop at one car? He has at least two motor vehicles in his household. Approximately 29% of real estate agents have three or more motor vehicles compared to 16% in other Melbourne households.
That big house must have a big garage. He is an employee of a company, but may one day run his own business. After all, one in four real estate agents is an owner manager of his own enterprise compared to one in six workers in Melbourne.
Even though a university degree is not necessary to work as areal estate agent, over a third (34%) have one, mainly from a management or commerce field.
Angela Minn is a property market analyst at the Real Estate Institue of Victoria.
