He has done an analysis of the value of sales, the amount of commission and the number of agents operating in regions around the country and found the average income for a New Zealand real estate agent was $43,372 last year.
But there was a lot of variation between the regions.
Wellington’s agents pulled in an average $93,952 each in 2012. Auckland’s were the next highest-earning, with $76,147.
The lower figure in Auckland may be because there are more real estate agents – the most successful agents were earning more than $1 million a year each in the country’s biggest city.
But in four regions, the average was below $25,000 last year.
Northland agents earned an average $24,851, followed by Coromandel with $22,875, Wairarapa $21,666 and West Coast $19,173.
Out of that income, agents would also have other costs associated with running their business.
After an adjustment for tax, the average is reduced to $35,000, below the “living wage” of $38,000, Helm says.
Helm said commission was a very inefficient way of remunerating real estate agents. “I think the system has to change. The industry needs a degree of reinvention.”
Agents added the most value, he said, during the negotiation stage of a sale. And negotiating with six buyers on a $600,000 home would be harder work than negotiating with two on a $2 million sale – but the more expensive sale would be much more lucrative.
Helm said agents should be able to charge a good hourly rate for their negotiation and facilitation of a sale but they couldn’t because they weren’t able to unbundle the process of negotiating a deal from the very inefficient methods of canvassing for new listings.
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