– Has the housing market wipeout scarred a generation of buyers? Slump’s shake-up revealed<\/a><\/p>\nAt the same time, nearly one in five licensed salespeople aren\u2019t working in the industry, with 3012 salesperson licences inactive. Those still working are averaging roughly five residential sales a year each.<\/p>\n
However, the sales aren\u2019t evenly spread.<\/p>\n
One agent told OneRoof he had spent 12 months in the industry without making a sale. He\u2019s delivering Uber Eats to help cover the cost of petrol while chasing work.<\/p>\n
There are also fewer houses to sell than in 2021 and lower house prices mean smaller commissions.<\/p>\n
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Ray White Glenfield agent Kristina Walsh: “It\u2019s really, really tough. Even people who have been in the market 30 years are having trouble.” Photo \/ OneRoof<\/p>\n
![\"Real](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/957cc4bd0f9a7081bebb7f14fc038226.jpg\")
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One Agency Auckland Central owner Moritz Muck: \u201cI think some of them watch a bit too much Bravo Shahs of Sunset, where agents swan into the office at noon and grab a quick coffee.\u201d Photo \/ OneRoof<\/p>\n
Another agent entered the industry during the downturn in a bid to prove he could make it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m stubborn. If I can make it in the tough times, I\u2019ll do well in the good times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Four months in, he\u2019s working 20 hours a week as a concierge to pay the bills while he builds his business.<\/p>\n
One Agency Auckland Central owner Moritz Muck was an agent during the global financial crisis and is no stranger to property cycles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to work in an office at the time where even top salespeople ended up having to drive a taxi after hours for a year or two until things picked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, it feels worse than \u201808,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
REINZ said agents were having to work harder as cautious buyers took longer to make decisions, although some regions were showing signs of improvement.<\/p>\n
Economist Tony Alexander said buyers still held most of the cards, investors were scarce, and buyers were taking their time before making a move.<\/p>\n
For Wellington-based Alman Avallone, running a real estate business now means being more than a boss.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are elements there of trying to be a bit of a counsellor and a motivator. Every week I hear from one of the agents they say they are depressed and wondering where the next sale is coming from,\u201d the One Agency Select Realty owner said.<\/p>\n
Muck said some people don\u2019t realise what they are signing up for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think some of them watch a bit too much Bravo Shahs of Sunset, where agents swan into the office at noon and grab a quick coffee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Being good at one job doesn’t necessarily make you good at real estate, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou may be the best mechanic in the world, but it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to be a good salesperson,\u201d Muck said.<\/p>\n
Walsh isn\u2019t new to the industry. Her parents were real estate agents in the 1990s, and she has been successful herself.<\/p>\n
She isn\u2019t giving up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a solo mum, I\u2019ve got no child support, no support from the government, and I\u2019m still here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have a Plan B, and I never have, so you\u2019ll have to drag me away kicking and screaming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
– Click here to find properties for sale<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Real estate agents are taking side jobs and selling possessions during a severe property downturn. – Licensed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,1258,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-596428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-latest-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}