Rural valuers
thin on the ground
Farrow Jamieson and Colliers International data show that: Only 5% to 10% of registered valuers in New Zealand are rural specialists Of those, only 20% are actively practising
A serious shortage of rural valuers is looming at a critical time for New Zealand’s agribusiness industry, according to Colliers International’s rural valuation division and recruitment and advisory practice Farrow Jamieson. Farrow Jamieson has been searching for skilled professionals to join Colliers International’s rural valuation business and has come up against the most acute skills shortage it has ever seen in any sector in New Zealand. Andy McLeod, practice lead for Farrow Jamieson’s South Island operations, has been working closely with the Colliers team on a national search. He says various factors have contributed to the critical shortage of qualified registered rural valuers, including: macroeconomic events such as market downturns impacting the entry of new people to the sector an absence of succession planning in the industry pending retirements of several practicing rural valuers. Tim Crighton, director of Colliers’ rural valuation division says the situation is becoming critical. “Although Colliers has already added to its highly skilled rural valuations team this year that is fortunate to have an envied spread of experience and longevity, if other firms are unable to find skilled, registered valuers to hire, their client service could suffer with potential impacts to the whole agribusiness sector nationally. “At a time when New Zealand rural and agribusiness assets are coming on to the radars of investors in Asia and beyond, it is essential the industry has sufficient, skilled people who can provide expert advisory services to help facilitate key transactions.
20
colliersportfolio.nz
“Colliers prides itself on exactly this level of service, and that is vital now given the increasing complexity around rural property transactions.” Rural transactions now involve much more than just a handshake over the kitchen table, says Crighton. “The amalgamation of smaller family farms into large corporate enterprises, as well as the interest from overseas investors, means rural transactions are now much more complex – often involving very large-scale assets, complicated infrastructure and multiple stakeholders such as government and iwi.” McLeod says one of the greatest risks to the current situation is an absence of succession planning. “In the rural sector there is now a large proportion of practising valuers who are nearing retirement with no plan in place to hand over their business and the deep knowledge base which they have built up over many years in business.” Farrow Jamieson has secured two, quality employees for Colliers International in the past year, achieved through an intensive targeted search, says McLeod. “We have been through the market with a fine-toothed comb to search for candidates from Kaitaia to Bluff. This involved developing a deep understanding of the people in the sector and then approaching individuals directly. We now have a long term search strategy in place in a market where candidates have almost become an endangered species.”
Of that 20%, around 60% are due to retire in the next five years Of the remaining 40%, only 5% – equating to no more than a dozen individuals – are genuine rural valuation specialists (as opposed to residential lifestyle property valuers). Inadequate numbers of graduates from the university courses which feed the valuation sector has compounded the problem, says McLeod. The scarcity of rural valuers can be traced right back to the 1980s, when the removal of subsidies lessened the attractiveness of careers in the rural sector and the government departments which provided training for valuers were restructured.
COLLIERS’ RURAL REACH AUCKLAND HAMILTON
TAURANGA
HAWKES BAY PALMERSTON NORTH WELLINGTON
NELSON
BLENHEIM
ASHBURTON
CHRISTCHURCH
QUEENSTOWN DUNEDIN
RURAL VALUATION COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL OFFICES
Tim Crighton +64 27 430 2870 tim.crighton@colliers.com