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Property professionals, including surveyors, have experienced another year of bumper pay rises, research suggests.

On average, they have received increases of 7.2% over the past year, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

That figure exactly matches the rise in house price in 2016, as measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Less than 1% of those who took part in the survey were estate agents.

Their pay actually fell by 21% during the year.

In the previous year estate agents, surveyors and valuers received average rises of 6.5%, according to the Rics survey.

Earlier this week, ONS figures showed that average UK wages grew by 2.6% in the year to December.

Gender pay gap

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said not all residential agents would have received such a generous rise as surveyors and valuers.

"40% of what they earn is commission, so that's success-related," said Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director.

"Their basic salary, I'm pretty sure, will have remained the same."

Most agents charge sellers a percentage of the sale price, so fees tend to rise in line with house prices.

However the NAEA said fees had typically dropped over the last year, from 1.2% of the sale price, to 1.1%.

The survey, conducted by Rics and the recruitment firm Macdonald and Company, showed that the average salary of a property professional is £52,362.

In London the average salary is £61,141.

The survey of over 8,000 Rics members also revealed a large gender pay gap among those who work in the industry.

On average, male agents earn more than £11,000 a year more than females, a fact that Rics described as "disheartening".

The NAEA said there was a 50-50 gender split in residential sales and lettings, and that pay was the same.