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New figures show that annual increases in property manager salaries have not kept up with the level of wage rises in other real estate roles.
Real estate recruitment company Gough Recruitment, who carried out the survey, said the mediocre results can be attributed to the “unglamorous” nature of the job and the low barrier of entry into the industry for that role.
In the last 12 months, salaries within the real estate, property and construction sectors have risen on average by 12 per cent. However, an average property manager’s salary only increased by seven per cent over that period, according to the research.
The survey identified generous pay hikes for roles including Asset Manager, Commercial Property Manager, Retail Property Operations Manager, Real Estate Strata Manager, Regional Centre Manager, Building Manager and Retail Property Manager.
Speaking to Residential Property Manager, Gough Recruitment chief executive Joel Barbuto explained that some of these positions are specialised skills, so there are fewer people working in those areas.
“Whereas with real estate agents and property managers, there is a fairly low barrier of entry into the industry and a lot more people, so I think that is reason why they have not moved as quickly in salary,” he said.
“For example, if you are an asset manager, you've been to uni for four years, you've had a career that's progressed, and there are probably only 50 companies in Sydney that you could work for. A real estate agent can go and do a five-day course, get into the industry, and work for 10,000 real estate agencies."
Mr Barbuto said property management is also not seen as a “glamorous role”.
“There is a lot of banging every day with repairs and maintenance, with landlords not doing this, and tenants not doing that, and a lot of complaints. It is not considered a glamorous role," he said.
"But the salary – it is worth noting – is still going up, and very well, compared to a lot of other industries. PMs are still getting that seven per cent increase. I think the margins are just not there for principals to pay any more, but they are really at the top end and have been consistently going up for the last 10 years.”
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