Australian real estate maket ripe for disruption: Sydney University professor

Australian real estate maket ripe for disruption: Sydney University professor
Staff reporterDecember 7, 2020

University of Sydney Business School associate professor Jamie Alcock said it was unfortunate Purplebricks had folded in Australia.

“I don’t think it was bound to fail, it was a market ripe for disruption,” Mr Alcock told Domain.

“The [real estate agent] commissions in Australia are very high by international standards.

“There is a lot of money to be made.

"It’s not a hugely complex task to sell residential property; a lot of it could theoretically be disrupted through some technological revolution or a new business model.

“When you see large fees and there are no huge technical skills or qualifications required, it’s disruptable.”

The DIY selling platform, forsalebyowner.com.au has offered to hire all 105 Purplebricks agents and migrate their 1400 listings to its online platform for free, after the British-based firm announced its intention to exit Australia this week.

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