The profile of an Estate Agent

Real estate barriers breaking down, survey shows



29 September 2009



Transformation in SA’s real estate industry is speeding up, a new survey shows.



The results of the just-released poll show that black agents now make up 10% of the total, compared with just under 4% five years ago, when the number of agents registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) was roughly the same as it is currently.



“In real terms the increase means that the number of black agents registered has risen from about 2000 to around 4200,” says Dr Willie Marais, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEASA) “and we are delighted at this growth, which we see as an important sign of that the residential property market overall is becoming more integrated.



“It reflects not only the rising percentage of black buyers in the market but the fact that the divide between the so-called township markets and the traditional suburban markets is narrowing, with more people now transferring freely from one to the other.



“Indeed, this is underlined by a further finding of the survey, that 18% of all agents, or almost one in five, now include township homes in their marketing mix alongside suburban houses, sectional title and cluster homes, retirement units and agricultural properties.”



The 2009 survey, conducted by an independent researcher with the backing of IEASA and Property24 as well as the EAAB, is the second such poll ever conducted in the SA real estate industry, the first having been done in 2004.



Distributed to 42 000 agents registered with the EAAB, it probed a wide range of characteristics of agents and agencies, including demographics, business activities and technology usage, as well as compensation structures and although participation was entirely voluntary, it drew a strong response.



This revealed among other things that the typical SA agent is aged between 35 and 55 (54%); married with two children (72%) and earns R13 000 or less a month (54%) by working on a commission-split basis in an independent agency (74%). IEASA will release further findings over the next few weeks.



Issued by the

Institute of Estate Agents of SA

The EAAB declares an official dispute.

The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) wishes to advise that it has formally declared an intergovernmental dispute with the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SSETA) in terms of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act of 2005.



The dispute between the two organs of state arises from various activities engaged in by the SSETA from time to time with reference to the estate agency profession and the training of estate agents which, not only exceeds the legislative mandate of the SSETA but, also, undermines the standing and authority of the EAAB in the exercise of its powers and functions as the statutory regulator and professional body for estate agents.



The EAAB can only conclude that the SSETA seeks unlawfully to intrude on its autonomy, infringe both the rule of law and the principle of cooperative governance, exercise purported powers in an unlawful and unauthorised manner, engage in illegal self-help and, generally, act in a manner unbecoming an organ of state.



The parties to the dispute are now be required to convene a meeting to determine the nature of the dispute, to identify mechanisms or procedures to assist in the settling of the dispute and to agree on such mechanisms and procedures for this purpose and to designate a person to act as facilitator in settling the dispute.



The EAAB will make every endeavour possible to resolve the dispute with the SSETA in compliance with the constitutional obligations to do so imposed on organs of state and for the benefit of the estate agency profession and allied stakeholders.



Issued by: The Estate Agency Affairs Board



Contact: Ms. Portia Mofikoe

Portia.Mofikoe@eaab.org.za



Date: 2 November 2009

Print giving way to the Web in SA real estate

30 October 2009

Print is steadily losing ground as the Internet becomes the number one advertising medium for estate agents, a new survey shows.

The results of the just-released poll show that local or community newspapers are now the only print options that command more support than the Internet, with 54% of agents regularly placing adverts in these papers while 47% make use of online property portals to showcase their stock.

What is more, 74 percent of agents now also regard their company websites as important advertising channels.

By contrast, only 34% of agents advertise in the property magazines that are distributed for free, and only 29% support the weekly property supplements to major newspapers. Even fewer make use of glossy property magazines (15%) and just a handful (3%) ever advertise on TV.

“To a large extent, this sharp shift towards online advertising is a result of the property market downturn,” says Dr Willie Marais, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEASA). “With sales and income way down, agents and agencies have been forced to cut costs wherever possible, and print advertising has always been one of the biggest items of expenditure for most real estate companies.

“Consequently, they have turned more and more to Internet advertising, which is relatively low-cost and sometimes even free, and has several other advantages too, including global reach and a much longer ‘shelf-life’ for each ad, which can remain on view as long as a property remains unsold.”

Agents have also discovered the joys of interactivity, he says, with most property portals offering a ‘matching’ service that immediately advises potential buyers of new listings that match their home search criteria, as well as the facility for those who are interested in a particular listing to instantly contact the agent via email or SMS.

“And then there is the greater manageability of online listings, with agents being able to instantly upload a new photo, for example, or to change price and other details that may make the property more attractive to potential buyers.”

Indeed it is not surprising, Marais says, that many agencies have in recent years actually diverted resources from print advertising to developing, fine-tuning and promoting their own websites to local and global audiences.

The 2009 real estate survey, conducted by an independent researcher with the backing of IEASA and Property24 as well as the Estate Agency Affairs Board, is the second such poll ever conducted in the SA real estate industry, the first having been done in 2004 – when only 62% of agents were using the Internet to advertise.

Besides advertising preferences, the research probed a wide range of characteristics of agents and agencies, including demographics, business activities and compensation structures. It was distributed to 42 000 agents registered with the EAAB and although participation was entirely voluntary, it drew a strong response.

Issued by the
Institute of Estate Agents of SA