Agents shaken out as boom fades
Real estate industry shakes out one quarter of agents
Real estate industry shakes out one quarter of agents
Only about 75% of real estate agent licences expiring on March 31 were renewed and there are now 13,902 active licences.
The fall comes against a background of new fees ($800) and a decline in the number of house sales to around 5000 compared with 9000-odd in the speculative boom years leading up to 2008.
As reported in the NBR Property pages of NBR's print edition last week, there were 3199 licences that were suspended. This figure includes more than 1000 people who voluntarily suspended their licence.
In Christchurch 400 licensees suspended their licences and will not be charged the suspension or the annual suspension fees. About 800 Christchurch licensees chose to renew their licence but deferred payment of the fees and levies until 30 September 2011, suggesting that some of them may yet quit.
What remains unclear is whether the people who are quitting the industry were full timers or part timers.
Previously, a significant portion of the agency force included people looking for additional income, part time income, or trying a new profession at a time when it may not have taken too much skill to clinch a sale.