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Simon Parker
A new real estate industry benchmarking survey is expected to reveal just what makes the best – and most profitable - agencies tick.
Macquarie Relationship Banking said its third Residential Real Estate Benchmarking Survey will identify key drivers of business performance, mapping financial standards and providing a comprehensive view of industry trends.
“Our benchmarking survey provides an in-depth look at a broad range of factors, including sales metrics, business revenue, costs, staffing, market challenges and growth opportunities,” the head of Macquarie Relationship Banking’s residential real estate segment, Shaun Bassett, said.
“It supports real estate agents in benchmarking their business against their peers, both within their respective states and nationally, providing valuable information they can use to shape their growth strategy.”
More than 730 residential real estate agents from across the country have participated in the survey since 2007, and Macquarie Relationship Banking is calling on residential real estate agents to participate in its latest survey.
Mr Bassett said the survey provides valuable information for those looking to gain a competitive edge.
Macquarie’s last real estate industry benchmarking survey, in 2009, revealed that agents were optimistic about the future, with three quarters of respondents expecting positive growth. Regional and rural agents were more confident about future growth prospects, with 23 per cent of country firms expecting high growth in the coming one to two years, versus 18 per cent of metropolitan firms.
While Mr Bassett acknowledged that economic concerns had been the order of the day recently, “it will be interesting to see how the reality of business performance fares against the expectations set out by agents two years ago.”
“Previously, agents cited the top three drivers of future change as being team culture, cost management and profitability, and marketing. Team culture and marketing, in particular, are two areas that agents have control over, regardless of market conditions, and it will be interesting to see how and if these elements have been integrated into successful growth strategies,” added Mr Bassett.
In November last year, Mr Bassett told Real Estate Business that anecdotally at least, property management remained a key focus for most real estate businesses.
“Because of [tough] market conditions, and needing to shore up recurring income lines and an ability to build sustainable businesses, a continued strong focus on property management [has been evident].
“We’ve also seen a lot of instances of smaller rent rolls coming onto the market…and that’s country wide,” he said.
“When I say smaller rent rolls, we’re talking about the circa 100-130 managements. There’s been a lot of consolidation of larger rent rolls, so again, probably when we see the survey and the results we might see that continued focus on property management and growth there.”
Agents who participate in the free survey will automatically receive a copy of the Macquarie Relationship Banking 2012 Residential Real Estate Benchmarking report. More information can be obtained at www.macquarie.com.au/benchmarking
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