We all know skills are in short supply and salaries are rising. But what might not be quite so well understood is that overall, the property industry could be losing its mojo. The number of companies reporting that they are doing “well” or “very well” has slipped from 63 per cent a year ago to just over half.
Amidst rampant nation-wide staff shortages, it’s no surprise that the latest salary survey from Avdiev Report shows remuneration in the sector remains high.
The high and intensifying level of skills shortages was highlighted in the Job and Skills Australia’s inaugural report, Towards a National Jobs and Skills Roadmap 2023 revealed earlier this week.
- See our article, The skills shortage is intensifying in construction, planning, homelessness services and in ESG
The latest Property Industry Remuneration Report from Avdiev Report showed ongoing concerns of staff shortages, high interest rates, increasing costs and challenges in winning work continues in the property industry. Overall pay increased by 5 per cent across all sectors, is at and is the highest rate of increase since 2007.
High inflation rates and rising costs were the big challenges the respondents said as only 52 per cent perceived their company’s performance as doing “well” or “very well” compared to last year where 63 per cent were feeling positive.
While 51 per cent of companies indicated that they are changing strategies in response to the business conditions, a massive 89 per cent expect their company to perform the same or better over the coming year.
So things might be getting better
Respondents said conditions were easing. Staff acquisition was better and there were signs that wage growth and interest rates had potentially reached their peak.
Debra Moloney, company principal said: “The challenge of maintaining staffing continues and with high employment and very low underemployment, it is expected to continue.”
A third of respondent companies indicated they had trouble recruiting staff for key positions such as construction site roles, architects, funds management and more.
Meanwhile, expectations of higher pay from candidates with less experience continues, with 45 per cent of respondents reporting more staff requests than usual for pay increases. Notably, 80 per cent of these are attributed to the cost-of-living pressures, with the biggest impact in the last six months coming from inflation and interest rate rises, domestic economic conditions and increasing costs.
“Strong demand for workers continues and market competitive remuneration and attractive benefits are of key importance in retaining, hiring, rewarding, and motivating employees,” Moloney said.
Despite wage growth being higher than the economy-wide rate of 3.6 per cent reported in the June 2023 wage price index, it remained below the consumer price index of 6 per cent.
Amongst company respondents, 70 per cent indicated their plans to award a standard Increase in wages in the next round of pay reviews.
According to Mercer, Australian employers are budgeting an median 3 per cent salary increase in 2023.
According to the report, the position of sustainability manager has a total remuneration national median of $178,000 in as of March 2023, with a 5 per cent median increase since then until September 2023.
Property Professionals’ Remuneration – as at October 2023
| MARKET SECTOR | POSITION | Total Remuneration National Median March 2023 | Median % Increase for last reviews to September 2023 |
| Property Investment, Funds & Trusts Management | Asset Manager >$500m AUM | $258,700 | 4.0 |
| Property Development | Development Director | $409,700 | 5.0 |
| Retirement Living / Aged Care | Sales Manager | $220,900 | 5.0 |
| Retail Management | Senior Leasing Executive | $304,600 | 4.0 |
| Real Estate Agency / Advisory | Assistant Facilities Manager | $77,250 | 6.5 |
| Design & Building Consultants | Project Manager/Project Consultant | $126,900 | 6.0 |
| Building, Design & Construction | Site Supervisor | $175,000 | 4.3 |
| Finance, Corporate & IT | Sustainability Manager | $178,000 | 5.0 |