The California Department of Real Estate issued 182 new real estate licenses last week, according to a TRD analysis of agency data.
The new licenses were generally in more populous and urban counties. These include Los Angeles (52 new licensees), Orange (22), San Diego (21), Sacramento (11) and Riverside (9). The department issued no licenses in 33 counties.
Salesperson licenses accounted for the largest share, 66 percent. Salespersons are allowed to handle real estate transactions but cannot own their own company or hire agents to work for them. To receive a salesperson license, one must take three college-level courses on real estate and pass a written examination. This is generally the first license of an agent’s real estate career.
It is followed by broker and officer licenses, which together made up 24 percent of all new licenses issued last week. Broker licenses are the next step after salesperson licenses and require two years of salesperson experience and eight college-level real estate courses. Officer licenses are granted to heads and senior executives of brokerages.
Last week, 48 percent of licenses had no broker affiliation or business address. For salesperson, broker and officer licenses, NBA status means the licensee is not yet affiliated with a registered real estate corporation or broker and cannot list or sell homes. For corporate licenses, it means the corporation has not identified a principal address or provided other essential registration information with the Department of Real Estate.