Auctions are getting out of control in Auckland
With data showing more and more property sales in Auckland are undertaken by auction the property market and the agents driving it, may actually be driving more people out of the market due to shorter lead times and heightened anxiety. What might turn the market is the fact that the data may not be what it at first seems
The 6 steps to selling your house
We probably all think we know the steps involved in selling your house - I've shared my view of the 6 key steps with a core focus of the ones where I think even when you use an agent, you should not abdicate responsibility for
Should a real estate agent be paid $1.5m a year?
The top agents in each of the major firms earn in excess of $1m a year - as Barfoot & Thompson own figures show their top 3 earned an estimated $1.5m each - they sold around 100 house in the past year to make that money. That level of earning puts them well into the Top 20 earning CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies.. is that right?
Auckland inventory levels plummet
The latest data for May shows available property for sale in Auckland has fallen by a third in 12 months resulting in just 12 weeks of stock based on current rate of sale. We are in a cycle, cycles by there very nature do rebalance however braking a log-jam in the market will take time and things may get worse before getting better!
When is an auction not an auction?
As it turns out the Real Estate Agents Authority has a clear definition which differs from the measure of statistics adopted by some real estate companies. The real figures show that only just 6 out of 10 properties sold in Auckland by Barfoot & Thompson that were marketed as auctions sold at auction - under the hammer
Auctions causing buyer frustrations - I blame technology!
The contant story is all about buyers loosing out at auctions as the bidding speeds past their budget. Fact is, the way search price parameters work on Trade Me and Realestate.co.nz could be part of the reason behind the frustration - as ever with technology there is a fix
How much does a real estate agent earn?
Perception may be that agents earn a fortune given the commission rates and escalating house prices - the facts are a little more sober- the average agent in NZ last year earned an income of just $43,372 which after costs takes the likely net income below the "living wage"
Read the full analysis here....
Real estate is massively inefficient
Analysis of the workload of real estate shows that around two thirds of their working week is spent prospecting for new business. A fact that just goes to show how inefficient the industry is - no other industry would invest such a proportion of their salespeople's time when technology could provide the solution
