Being a real estate agent is no longer paying off for those who entered the profession during the pandemic.
Membership in the National Association of Realtors is falling alongside declining existing home sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Membership peaked with 1.6 million people in October, but has since slid to 1.5 million as of last month.
Residential real estate enticed many into its ranks as the housing market boomed and otherindustries flailed. But things have changed.
Transaction volume has slowed as elevated mortgage rates and home prices have sidelined buyers. Those who remain are increasingly leaning on agents with more experience or connections, making the profession a losing proposition for relative newcomers.
The typical Realtor has eight years of experience and earned a gross income of $54,300 in 2021, according to a NAR survey of its ranks last year. As those with less experience stand to make a smaller income in today’s market, some are taking a temporary hiatus from the field or even allowing their licenses to lapse with no future plans to get back into the business.
Dave Parker, a real estate agent who joined a brokerage in Maryland last spring, recently increased his hours as the part-time dairy manager at a Giant Food supermarket. Renee Cross, a former bakery manager in Montana, earned her license last summer, but only recently closed her first deal.
Other agents expressed uncertainty over how they would operate in an uncertain market without the promise of a steady paycheck. Many brokers are independent contractors who lack the benefits of full-time employment.
NAR expected a drop in membership this year. The declining number of Realtors due to the cooling market will probably be evident in a couple of years, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, who added it was too soon to determine if this was simply a seasonal slowdown.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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