Higher Saturday morning open for inspection turnout as estate agents hope the bucket overflows in 2012

It’s too early to sense any direction in the major metropolitan auction markets, although it hasn’t taken long for see-sawing weekend results to have returned in 2012.

But Angus Raine was among the first to spot a recent surge in Saturday morning open for inspections.

And he suggests higher turnout typically morphs into sales in the following month.

Then Danny Cobden, a Balmain peninsula agent, advised that foot traffic at his early February open homes had been “huge”, with 30 to 50 groups typically attending open homes for new listings.

“The Sydney weather doesn't seem to be deterring the buyers,” he says.

Raine reckons 2012 presents an interest time in the age-old supply and demand equation.

Buyers have been sitting on their hands for some considerable time, he notes.

“The demand bucket has been filling for a few years,” he says.

“It will spill over in the second or third quarter of this year,” he forecast.

Of course the agents need a boost in sales for their own good – especially in Queensland and Western Australia, where estate agent numbers have slumped as a consequence of a nationwide drop in transaction volumes and property prices. Last year's volumes were about 13% lower than volumes in 2010 across Australia, according to RP Data head of research Tim Lawless. The figure was 26% lower than 2009 and 33% lower than the recent highs of 2007.

"The real estate industry is doing it tough," Lawless concludes.

Lawless notes the latest IBISWorld Real Estate Industry report that puts income per employee in the real estate industry as having not changed much over the past four years – remaining around $59,000 since 2008 after generally trending down since 2002.

After I wrote of this alarming trend one reader commented: “It's funny how the average income of a real estate agent wouldn't allow them to purchase an average house using 30% of their income.”

“Even at 40% of their income they would only get finance of around $340,000 at 7% interest,” the reader advised.

It seems they've successfully priced themselves out of the market.