Chameleons in the city: An institutional analysis of sales agents in Sydney’s new apartment market

Multi-unit dwelling (MUD) development is complex and involves multiple relationships, introducing market risks. Following the Global Financial Crisis, a ‘boom-bust’ MUD market cycle eventuated in Sydney against a contrasting political and economic backdrop. The 2017-19 supply peak was crucially enabled through off-the-plan sales by ‘project marketers’ (PMs). Many new entrants into the project marketing industry sharpened competition. Established ways of working were disrupted by technological innovation. REAs needed to adapt to retain market share. An understanding of PM roles and practices in facilitating this ownership exchange is under-represented in existing research. This thesis presents an institutional theory-based conceptual model to investigate the embeddedness of PM actions and relations within institutional ‘structures’. The key question is how PMs evolve over a market cycle to influence market outcomes as key ‘institutions’, or ‘urban managers’? A mixed-methods approach utilises interviews with 36 industry professionals involved in MUD sales practices in the peak (2017-19) and downturn (2020-21). Secondary data charts the sales industry structure and capabilities empowering PMs during the supply peak. These discussions uncover the consequences of sales practices on the spatial distribution of new supply and MUD ownership profile. PMs were found to adjust to changing institutional ‘rules’. Their ‘beliefs’ on the dominant MUD buyer profile shifted over a market cycle. In the boom, financial and government institutions supported voluminous sales to foreign buyers and investors. Little effort was needed to reach sales ‘goals’, high pre-sale rates and prices. Official imposition of constraints dissipated demand in the bust, but fiscal stimuli supported sales to owner-occupiers. As building defects came to the fore, PMs’ ‘information provider’ ‘role’ became more prominent to allay buyer concerns. Sales ‘practices’ were modified to suit the temporal context. While voluminous sales were secured using channel agents on high commissions in the boom, more sophisticated marketing tools were deemed essential to prop up sales in the bust.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Ganguli, Rupa

• institutional theory
• structuration theory
• apartments
• real estate agents
• off-the-plan sales
• Sydney
• market cycles
• market risk
• interviews
• NVivo
• sales intermediaries
• Australia
• pre-sales
• residential
• anzsrc-for: 44 HUMAN SOCIETY
• anzsrc-for: 4406 Human geography
• anzsrc-for: 4410 Sociology
• anzsrc-for: 440603 Economic geography
• anzsrc-for: 440610 Social geography
• anzsrc-for: 441005 Social theory
• anzsrc-for: 33 BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN
• anzsrc-for: 3304 Urban and regional planning
• anzsrc-for: 330403 Housing markets, development and management
• anzsrc-for: 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES
• anzsrc-for: 3506 Marketing
• anzsrc-for: 350612 Social marketing
• anzsrc-for: 350611 Service marketing
• anzsrc-for: 350403 Real estate and valuation services
• anzsrc-for: 38 ECONOMICS
• anzsrc-for: 3801 Applied economics
• anzsrc-for: 380109 Industry economics and industrial organisation
• anzsrc-for: 440707 Housing policy
• anzsrc-for: 440714 Urban policy
• anzsrc-for: 4407 Policy and administration
• anzsrc-for: 441006 Sociological methodology and research methods

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY 4.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/24264

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/100557