The number of people and the number of agencies active in the real estate industry dropped during the 12 months to April.
According to the Real Estate Authority (REA), the statutory body responsible for regulating the industry, the number of licensed real estate salespeople declined form 12,752 at the end of April last year, to 12,153 at the end of April this year. That's down 4.7% for the year.
The number of licensed real estate companies declined from 897 to 866 over the same period, down 3.5%.
Although most real estate salespeople are commonly referred to as agents, that is not the case.
Agents are more highly qualified than salespeople. At the end of April this year there were 1951 licensed agents, down 2.5%.
However there is one group whose numbers have been increasing - licensed branch managers.
This was a new qualification introduced by the REA in 2022, and every salesperson must be supervised by someone who holds either an agent's or branch manager's licence.
The number of branch managers increased from 403 in April last year to 490 in April this year, up 21.6% for the year.
The total number of active licences of all types peaked at 16,902 in September 2022, following an influx of new people into the industry over the previous two years, when the housing market was booming.
Total license numbers had declined by 1442 (-8.5%) by the end of April this year, as the housing market cooled.
According to the REA the total number of active licences and new licence applications are now returning to levels more in line with early 2020.
Note: The Real Estate Authority is an independent government agency that regulates the conduct of the real estate industry and oversees the complaints and disciplinary process, among other things.
It should not be confused with the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, which is a voluntary, member-based organisation representing the real estate industry.
The comment stream on this article is now closed.
•You can have articles like this delivered directly to your inbox via our free Property Newsletter. We send it out 3-5 times a week with all of our property-related news, including auction results, interest rate movements and market commentary and analysis. To start receiving them, register here (it's free) and when approved you can select any of our free email newsletters.
42 Comments
“Never have I seen so many get paid so much for doing so little.”
😆🤣
I doubt these lost souls will be missed.
TTP
Oh - okay, now they eat their own species...
On the brightside, looks like 1400 wait staff now available for work.
The way the economy is going they have to wait a long time for their next job.
I would imagine that most have gone into early retirement..
When the trough is shrinking, there's less room for snouts.
Dp
Wasn't our finance minister only after 6.5% cuts?
That was just for starters, the big ones will be voluntary and involuntary as the recession bites.
Imagine how many fewer agents would be needed if we created a more stable housing market and therefore less churn of properties.
Every turnover creates about a 5% of the purchase price cost.
A stable market reduces costs.
If the amount of real estate licensees was restricted to a per capita limit in specific geographic locations, it would increase the amount of listings per agent, thereby making their job much more secure and the costs would come down significantly- more akin to an hourly rate for facilitating the transaction.
And encourage fixed commissions. say 1% plus advertising.
This could be hard on the poly-synthetic clothing industry 👔👞
European car leasing companies will also be nervous
US car loan lenders are scared as defaults avalanche and dealerships suffering diaherea as their yards of unsold vehilce pile up.
Was interested in a house that was going to auction last week and was happy to wait till post auction. I watched the auction live on the computer. Only 1 unconditional bid of 1.36m that was rejected and auctioneer placed a sellers bid of 1.5m. No further bids and the auction closed unsold. Just for comparison its cv was 1.45m.
I asked the agent a few days later how the auction progressed and she said it was passed in at 1.5m. Is this legal given the only unconditional bid was 1.36m. It just feels so unethical and misleading, however it might be legal! Thoughts?
Isn't the more important question: "did you put an offer in and how are your negotiations going?"
Yip. However, we can’t reach true value. In my mind
"True value" as you put it, is in the beholder's eye, or in this case subjectively different in the vendor and purchaser's eyes.
The concept of vendor bids is completely fubar. I can't bid on my own trade me auctions and it is illegal to engage in market manipulation or create a disorderly market in financial securities.
Why is housing different?
Well to be fair, the vendor bids are only allowed if the reserve price has not been met and must be clearly identified as a vendor bid.
If you're in the auction room, and your bid is responded with a vendor bid, you don't have to respond with a bid. Trade Me on the other hand, if you have auto-bid set up can you imagine if the seller was bidding up your autobid?
If the government doesn't step in with support we are going to lose all our best RE agents to Australia.
One of your best comments!
1689Baptist,
Well, they send us their 501s, so sending them our ex-RE agents seems a reasonable swap.
…fulfilling Muldoon’s observation that each kiwi who migrates to Australia raises the average IQ in both countries. In this case he’d be right!
Is that guaranteed?
Is that a problem or a benefit.
Oh the humanity. Perhaps they can do some "real" work like actually having to sell listings vs just taking orders. Alternatively work at macca's, share milker, hammer hand, telemarketing, sewerage scraper, otherwise no advo on toast for you.
Repossessed euro car auction coming to a town near you.
"Perhaps they can do some "real" work"
Like commenting on Interest.co.nz ?
that's not business, that's pleasure
I have been here for 20 years and still don't understand why so many Kiwis are prepared to pay the RE agents so much. In Scotland I paid the agent !% in 2003 and 2010 and that was the standard rate-there were no extra charges. It's a ripoff here.
I have been told that you should be able to negotiate down to 2-2.25% without breaking a sweat. Still far too much for what value they add to the project.
1.8 -2% has been the going rate for sometime . On a $million home , including advertising paid by the vendor and GST that will still equate to around $25k for the average agent/agency with little or no qualifications and relatively little effort . There is a reason there are so many agents in this country and why so many agencies occupy and own expensive real estate in each locality.
You are probably right so some expensive offices will beome vacant in the next year or two.
@linklater01
Good question . Because a good number of Kiwis are stupid ?
Mr Ed,
It's hard to reach any other conclusion. We had a local agent operating on a commission rate of 1.95% and for a short while some years ago, they seemed to be getting some traction, but they have gone now.
🎻
Still about 10,000 too many.
Bring this one back though - honest REA! https://youtu.be/JbFlstJ4u8E?si=h-d4D0qpz1TXrO9e
"and if ever you see an investment opportunity for sale, try and work out why the real estate agent didn't buy it"
Wisdom from Mr F. Dagg.
I imagine the sale of cheap suits and shoes has also fallen.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.