Three-quarters of buyers and sellers involved in a property transaction in the past year have rated their experience directly with real estate agents as either “excellent” or “above average”, according to a new national survey.
According to the InfoTrack State of Real Estate Report, 47 per cent of respondents rated their experience with an agent as excellent, while 28 per cent rated their experience as above average.
The report also found 50 per cent of respondents also indicated there was no improvement required.
The survey reached more than 130,000 individuals who were involved in a property transaction between May 1 and April 30, last year.
The data also revealed most buyers and sellers had a positive experience during the property transaction, with 37 per cent rating their overall buying or selling experience as ‘excellent’, while 38 per cent rated it as ‘above average’ and 17 per cent said it was ‘average’.
Just 5 per cent of respondents rated their overall buying or selling experience as below average and just 3 per cent said it was poor.
Real Estate Institute of Australia President, Leanne Pilkington, said the results were largely very pleasing.
“It is positive news,” she said.
“Obviously there’s still work to be done by some agents but it’s great to see so many people having a positive response to their real estate transactions.”
The survey also looked at buyers and sellers experience with lawyers, conveyancers, mortgage lenders and financial institutions, buyer’s agents and building and pest inspectors.
Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of respondents rated their experience with a lawyer or conveyancer as excellent, while more than one-quarter said their experience with a mortgage lender or financial institution was between poor and average.
Looking at buyer’s agents, 42 per cent rated their experience as excellent, while when it comes to building and pest inspections, 46 per cent said they did not get one.
The report also revealed that 48 per cent of respondents reported no challenges with any party during the buying and selling process, while 52 per cent encountered difficulties.
Of those that encountered difficulties, almost one-third (30 per cent) came across them with a real estate agent.
This was followed by a lender or financial institute at 21 per cent and the other buyer or seller at 17 per cent.
When it comes to the issue of communication, the report showed there were clearly two sides to the coin.
“A third of respondents (33 per cent) named communication as the key area where real estate agents could improve, followed by transparency (27 per cent), negotiation (17 per cent), integrity (12 per cent) and knowledge (11 per cent),” InfoTrack Head of Property Australia Lee Bailie said.
“Knowledge was a common theme for experience improvements across all key parties, including real estate agents, mortgage lenders and financial institutions, and building and pest inspectors.
“It’s certainly not all bad news – 36 per cent of respondents said communication with their real estate agent was among the most positive parts of the entire transaction process, showing the importance of the agent/client relationship, as Australians make the biggest decision of their lives.”
Ms Pilkington said it would be interesting to know what percentage of the respondents were buyers and how many were sellers as the two parties could have different experiences with agents.
“Most people I speak to are happy with their real estate experience,” she said.
“There are always going to be some that either don’t understand the transaction and the expectations are not clarified at the beginning.
“But, by and large, most people are satisfied.”
Mr Bailie said real estate agents may be interested to note that 71 per cent of Australians who bought and sold property in the past year encountered challenges, with property prices, market conditions and finding a property named the areas of most contention.
“More than one in 10 respondents (14 per cent) named finding a property a top challenge, but the number one area of concern impacting 21 per cent of buyers and sellers was property prices,” he said.
“Family households with children were the most likely to be impacted by the ability to afford a property.
“Interestingly only two-thirds of respondents (62 per cent) were concerned by interest rates and surprisingly, only 40 per cent of first-home buyers.”
Ms Pilkington said she was not surprised affordability was an issue.
“We know that housing affordability is an ongoing challenge,” she said.
“Unfortunately, although the government has identified that and understands that supply, or lack of supply, is what’s driving prices, they are not meeting their commitment to build new property.”
The report also revealed non-first-home buyers or sellers lead the market, making up 69 per cent of respondents, while first-home buyers accounted for 20 per cent and first-time sellers 11 per cent.
Australians also prefer to buy and sell houses (62 per cent) in suburban areas (74 per cent), while couples aged 30-49 were identified as the main buying demographic.
Read the full report here.
