TWO well-known estate agency groups — Seeff Properties and Jawitz Properties — said on Friday there was no collusion by the estate agency industry to prevent smaller agencies advertising lower commission rates.

The issue of alleged collusion to fix commission rates was raised again last week when a Port Elizabeth estate agency wanted to bring an application for interim relief against East Cape Property Guide and Saturday Property Guide.

Charter Properties is alleging that East Cape Property Guide and Saturday Property Guide are in contravention of the Competition Act.

Charter Properties claims the two publications are refusing to allow references to rates of commission payable in advertisements and that this leads to price-fixing in contravention of the act.

The Competition Commission is still investigating.

In the meantime, Charter Properties wants to ask the Competition Tribunal to order East Cape Property Guide and Saturday Property Guide to allow it to advertise in their publications without any undue influence on the rate of charge or commission and without changing the wording of its advertisements.

But the hearing, which was to have been held on Friday, was cancelled and rescheduled to a later date still to be decided because Eldrich Page, the owner of Charter Properties, was ill. Page is representing himself.

Seeff Properties chairman Samuel Seeff said there was a long history of estate agents charging the commission rate of 7,5% recommended by the Institute of Estate Agents of SA.

He said since competition authorities ruled commissions could not be fixed and must be negotiated between seller and agent, most of the estate agencies in SA had continued with the rate already in place. But this rate was not reflected as a recommended or fixed rate.

“When the property is listed the commission (rate) discussion comes up and it is generally negotiated at that point. The seller has the right to say whether this is acceptable or he can negotiate a lower amount. In certain circumstances there have been even higher commission rates decided by the seller and the agent,” said Seeff.

He said there was now an “unregulated” commission rate system and that commissions varied from zero to 10%.

“There is no collusion between estate agents to keep a fixed commission price. Most agents are still just trading off the last history of what was then the recommended rate.”

Seeff said his group had “no problem” with agencies advertising lower commission rates.

But he said agents who offered discounted rates would “not be able to provide” the service and marketing exposure to their sellers that larger more established companies could, charging an “undiscounted” rate.

Jawitz Properties CE Herschel Jawitz said that as far as the group was aware, there was no restriction in terms of what type of advertisements could be placed in the Saturday Property Guide.