Almost a third of Australians who bought and sold property in the last year encountered challenges with their real estate agent, according to the results of the first national survey on the experience of buying and selling property.
The 2024 State of Real Estate Report from prop tech firm InfoTrack found while nearly half (47%) of respondents rated their experience with a real estate agent as excellent, 30% experienced difficulties with their agent.
InfoTrack’s Head of Property Australia, Lee Bailie said the survey offered key insights from the consumer perspective that agents should consider.
“A third of respondents (33%) named communication as the key area where real estate agents could improve, followed by transparency (27%), negotiation (17%), integrity (12%) and knowledge (11%),” Mr 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% 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.”
As for other professions – more than a quarter of respondents rated their experience with a mortgage lender or financial institution between poor and average (28%). Lawyers received a good rap, with 86% of survey respondents rating their experience with their solicitor or conveyancer as excellent or above average.
Agents may be interested to hear nearly three-quarters of Australians (71%) who bought and sold property in the last 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%) named finding a property a top challenge, but the number one area of concern impacting 21% of buyers was property prices,” Mr Bailie 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%) were concerned by interest rates, and surprisingly only 40% of first home buyers.”
The survey also found Australians overwhelmingly prefer to buy and sell houses (62%) in suburban areas (74%) and couples aged 30-49 were identified as the main purchasing demographic among survey respondents.
