Property the most popular 2013 job

 McGrath Estate Agents chief executive John McGrath said property is becoming a more respectable career option.

“A lot of companies are coming out from their cave and starting to hire people to service the growth,” he said.

“Our sector has improved significantly in the past 12 months.

“As the industry becomes more professional and diversified — with areas like social media and marketing — there are a lot of people who are more educated seeing the real estate industry as a very interesting one to be in.”

The real estate industry is showing no signs of slowing down. Capital city residential property prices went up 9.3 per cent in 2013 compared to 2.1 per cent in 2012, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released yesterday.

Between October and December last year, residential property prices went up 4.9 per cent in Sydney, 2.8 per cent in Melbourne, 3 per cent in Brisbane and 2.8 per cent in Adelaide.

Mr McGrath said property management and sales agents are the most popular jobs, but added social media managers, online marketers and public relations specialists are in hot demand. Mums are getting in on the act too.

“Mums can get into real estate because it has flexibility in terms of hours and how they run their day. They can also earn a good income,” he said.