Women in power & property
Changing real estate ’ s narrative & breaking barriers
Real estate is one industry that is perfectly suited to women ’ s needs and their considerable skills and aptitudes , but breaking into the real estate industry has not been easy for women - especially for women of colour . In many regards , the industry is still a bastion of male domination , a field in which women remain under-represented at a senior level and are far less likely to attain executive positions . Despite the fact that at least half the estate agents out there are women and despite the fact that single women are the largest group of property buyers in South Africa .
According to Lightstone properties , the number of women buying properties since the first quarter of 2019 until the third quarter of this year , has risen and women are indeed “ leading the property buyers ’ trend ”. The substantial increase of women in the workforce over the past three decades has seen their role progress from being influencers in the decision-making process to now being rightful buyers in their own capacity .
Data from the National Association of Realtors in the USA shows that women now control 80 percent of consumer purchases , they direct 91 percent of housing decisions and guide 94 percent of home furnishing choices . With this much influence as a group of consumers and decision-makers , why are there not more women leaders in this sector ?
“ Gender parity in our industry still has a way to go . We ’ ve made significant strides in the last decade and there is visible progress of women being integrated into various roles within different segments of the sector . The biggest challenge we still face is in ensuring that women are represented in senior roles within the industry ,” says Nonhlanhla Mayisela , chair of the Women ’ s Property Network and CEO of Izandla Property .
Matseleng Mogodi , Founder of Snooks Estates , says : “ For decades , we have been calling this industry a male dominated industry , but it ’ s still not transforming fast enough … Statistics indicate how enormous gender prejudice is in the industry . Because it has many males it has given the perception that males do better or survive better , but that could be due to many reasons . Racially , it is also