With all this in mind, the real estate industry is still choosing to err on the side of cautious optimism for the year to follow.
According to a recent survey released by Lightstone Property, 73% of real estate agents surveyed felt they would hit sales volume targets in 2024, and 72% felt that they would hit their value targets as well.
Adrian Goslett, regional director and chief executive officer of Re/Max of Southern Africa, says that this might not be an unrealistic sentiment, especially not for those who are part of the Re/Max SA network.
“I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that – despite interest rates remaining as high as they are – we had closed over R3 bn in sales for February 2024. Our year has been off to a great start, so I am cautiously optimistic to see what our results will be as the year progresses,” he states.
Looking back at the year that was, Goslett mentions that he was also impressed at how well the Re/Max SA network performed in 2023.
“Reviewing our network – which, keep in mind, consists of over 3,250 agents – on average, a Re/Max agent would have sold at least eight homes in 2023*. This number jumps to a whopping 101 homes* when we consider the average units sold per agent for only our Top 10 agents.
"For our Top 200 agents, the average units sold per agent would have been 34* – that’s almost three homes sold per agent each month in a market that was hamstrung by high interest rates and a plethora of geo-political challenges,” he notes.
“The fact that so many property sales continued in spite of these challenges further highlights that the South African real estate market is strong and resilient and is one that can be trusted by investors. Not only this, but it also shows that ambitious sales targets can be achievable given the right attitude and with the backing of a reputable brand,” says Goslett.
His final advice to real estate agents in the year ahead is to break down their sales targets into a list of everyday actions that will help them achieve their goals.
“Big goals are often accomplished by taking small steps each and every day. Consistent, measurable actions – like making X10 cold calls daily or doing a flyer drop weekly – will all accumulate over time to deliver some big results,” he concludes.
*Calculated based on agent commission totals and using the 2023 SA average house price of R1,430,000.
