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Surprising new findings reveal commissions vary considerably across the country, with South Australia having the cheapest agent commissions at 2 per cent.
Comparison platform LocalAgentFinder analysed data from agents on its platform in each state, excluding NT and ACT, and found that Australia’s highest average commission rates at 3.0 per cent are in Tasmania, compared with the national average at 2.07 per cent in metropolitan areas and 2.54 per cent in regional areas.
This means that on a $500,000 sale, the average Tasmanian resident pays $5,000 more in commission than a vendor would in South Australia.
The data also found that NSW and Victoria are on par, with an average commission fee of 2.05 per cent, while WA’s average is at 2.31 per cent. And that Queensland’s average commissions are closing in on Tasmania’s at 2.61 per cent. Queensland was the last state to have its commissions deregulated in late 2014.
CEO Matt McCann said the data analysis is illuminating.
“The average commission in NSW and Victoria are indicative of the robust market in these states, particularly in the metropolitan parts of these states,” he said.
“It’s interesting to see Western Australia is at 2.31 per cent, given the market’s current state, and to see the average commission in Queensland sit at 2.61 per cent.
Prior to commissions being deregulated in Queensland, they were capped, so a high average commission could still be carrying on as an effect of that.
“Further, the fact that property prices in Queensland are slightly lower, on average, than the rest of Australia might be indicative of how the average commission in Queensland compares.”
Mr McCann also said the data revealed a reversal in some of the industry’s commonly held views.
“While the perception may be that vendors focus on fees and commissions in their agent selection process, for the large majority of vendors using the platform the final decision comes down to an agent’s local knowledge and expertise,” he said.
“Interestingly, we found that agents offering vendors the lowest fees are not the agents that vendors most commonly choose on the platform. In fact, three-quarters of vendors rate an agent’s ‘ability to get the best outcome’ as the number one factor when choosing an agent when they register on the platform – not commissions.
“This indicates that agents should focus on demonstrating how they will achieve the best price for the vendor’s property based on their experience in the area and from recent sales success, rather than cutting commissions.”
Vendors also favour a tiered percentage model, the data found.
“Gone are the days where vendors think negatively about commissions,” said Mr McCann.
“They know that an agent will be motivated to secure the highest price for a property regardless and they understand that a tiered commission structure is one tactic that may encourage their agent to work towards this.
“Generally, vendors are much savvier than they were 20 years ago and understand that a lot of time and work [go] into selling a property. Our insights tell us that paying the lowest commission isn’t the focus for the majority of vendors. They know that they might be paying their agent a little more through a tiered percentage model, but their agent may have achieved them an extra $50,000 to $100,000.”
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