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The Macquarie Real Estate Benchmarking Report 2023 │ Realtair x Pete Matthews x Phil Tarrant

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News and Commentary

Tech Tuesday: Mcquarie Bank Real Estate Benchmarking Report 2023

The video is a “Tech Tuesday” discussion (Realtyear with Pete Matthews and Phil Tarrant, hosted by Tom) that unpacks insights from the Mcquarie Bank / McQuarie Bank “Real Estate Benchmarking Report 2023” and what it implies for Australian real estate businesses—especially how they can improve profitability through productivity and technology use.

1) Why the report matters: staffing pressure and the “people cost” problem

The presenters highlight that staff salaries and commissions dominate expenses (reported as 62% of expenses).

Key concerns from the principles discussed include:

  • Rising staffing and wage costs (69%)
  • Finding and recruiting new staff (60%)
  • Property management retention (53%)

The discussion suggests that commissions/revenue are under pressure, so higher staffing costs compress margins rather than increasing profit.

2) Productivity is the center of the solution (not just tech adoption)

A major theme is that success comes from productivity and efficiency—using technology to reduce administrative burden and enable agents to do more revenue-generating work.

Phil emphasizes:

  • Agencies should leverage technology to “do the heavy lifting” so people can focus on core selling/property-management activities.
  • “Outliers” outperform because they deliver better work output metrics (for example: more properties under management per property manager; more sales per agent).

Pete echoes that technology should be an enabler, but principals also need:

  • a plan
  • accountability
  • consistency, so agents actually use the systems as intended

3) Real-world example: agents prospecting and transacting earlier in the year

Pete shares an anecdote about an agency team doing around 130 on-site auctions on Feb 3, maintaining momentum without holiday delays.

He also claims that in early January this year, prospecting activity increased compared with all of January last year—attributing this to market dynamics such as:

  • stock tightness
  • competitive urgency

4) Value proposition shift: from “price/commission” to outcomes and process

The presenters argue the market is increasingly pressured by:

  • declining commission percentages and broader revenue stress
  • consumers’ perception that agents are “just” running open homes

Their counterpoint is that an agent’s job involves risk and work upfront, including:

  • marketing
  • negotiation
  • coordination
  • execution

So value should be framed through measurable productivity and outcomes, not lower fees alone.

5) Property management is becoming the revenue backbone

They highlight a structural shift in revenue mix:

  • In 2007, property management generated ~29% of agency revenue
  • Now it’s nearly 50% (as discussed in the video)

The report’s logic: as selling cycles slow or vary, the rent roll becomes the key asset that drives value, continuity, and long-term profitability.

They also emphasize:

  • property management retention
  • workload
  • why the right software/process efficiencies matter to manage more properties and support better compensation

6) Technology fatigue and the need for integrated platforms

A concern raised from the report is that agencies may be subscribing to multiple disconnected tools.

The discussion argues for more interconnected platforms (or tightly integrated systems) so technology produces measurable outcomes rather than creating fragmentation.

7) State-by-state commission discussion (notably property management percentages)

They reference regional variation in commission rates (including that property management commission is highest in Western Australia and Queensland in the numbers discussed).

The speculation is that these variations may reflect market structure, and that stronger tech foundations could improve rent-roll value multiples—though they caution they haven’t fully pinned down how those multiples behave.

8) US headline: potential change to buyer-agent compensation rules

Near the end, they discuss a US regulatory/antitrust environment following DOJ action:

  • The current model (buyers agents paid via listing commission splits) is being challenged
  • Potential change: buyers agents may need to justify/receive fees from buyers directly, not sellers (not yet fully “law” in their explanation, but expected)

Predicted impacts include:

  • more transactional similarity to Australia/New Zealand models
  • possible reduction in buyer-agent-only roles
  • increased switching toward listing-agent behavior

They also suggest US agents may need training/adjustment toward a more hunt-and-prospect style, similar to expectations in Australia.

Presenters / Contributors

  • Tom (host)
  • Phil Tarrant
  • Pete Matthews
  • Susan (mentioned briefly via chat/social prompts; not treated as a formal on-air contributor)

Original video