Victoria’s top agents of FY24 revealed: best selling agents aged under 35
Young women have been identified as a future force in Victoria’s real estate industry, with one crowned the state’s best agent under 35. Find out how else young agents are changing the landscape.
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Victorian real estate’s male dominance is on its way out as a groundswell of super successful young women push to redefine the career.
And the state’s most senior agent, Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Jacob Caine revealing he believes the industries top five players will all be women within the decade.
Michelle Stephens, who sold a jaw-dropping more than $204m worth of houses in the last financial year, is already number one for agents aged 35 and under and Lana Samuels, who sold more than $175m in the same time frame, was fifth on the list.
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“If I’m sitting in the office, I’m not out there making sales,” Ms Stephens said
“Not everyone will like me, but I care and will get my sellers every last penny possible.
“To be successful in this industry, you need to be a chameleon in the sense of adapting your personality type to the client and who is purchasing off you.”
Ms Stephens said in her downtime, she likes to go to Hamilton Island to switch off, but if she gets an offer she’ll be on the phone.
It’s not the first time Ms Stephens has topped the list of the highest-selling agents aged under 35 from Victoria’s largest and most high-profile real estate firms, having won the accolade for the past calendar year as well.
Whitefox Real Estate director Lana Samuels sold 71 homes in the past financial year and believes patience gets her the best results rather than just “churn and burn”.
Aged 35, she’s determined to make change.
“Women are powerhouses; you need to lean into your strengths and have women within the industry as mentors to rally around you,” Ms Samuels said.
“This job is about adrenaline and momentum – at one of my lowest points at the start of my career, a mentor told me it isn’t your short-term wins and little tricks; it’s about the marathon, not the sprint.”
Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Jacob Caine said the next generation of super-agents in Australia would be female, predicting that within a decade the state’s top five agents would be women.
Mr Caine said while many of the industries male members brought the same empathy and drive that helped the top performing women today thrive, he believed more women in the future would be determined to make their presence known.
“People want a real connection – that’s the successful salesperson right now, not a super slick nose to the grindstone agent,” he said.
“And at the moment, I’m seeing female real estate professionals emerging from that change.”
Also leading the charge to break trends is 26-year-old Garry Peer Caulfield North agent Daniel Peer, who has ditched social media in favour of building relationships within his community.
However Mr Peer is not giving up on technology, recently selling a home while on holiday in Mykonos, Greece, as he returned from a night out around 4am.
In the past financial year he has sold more than $153m worth of property, but despite his family name has had to work his way up to success and forge his own path.
“I had started out on reception then managing gritty, challenging un-rentable homes – I had to start from the ground up to build a client base,” Mr Peer said.
Across all of the top performing agents, there was also a consensus that physical and mental wellbeing were now keys to success.
One of the younger agents to make the top 10 for those under 35, Ozan Kanbur, said he still made time to take care of himself — no matter how busy his professional life became.
Mr Caine said for many in past generations of the industry, health had not been as high of a focus.
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