Here’s where NAR’s 2023 membership loss hit the hardest

After years of record membership numbers, the National Association of Realtors reported a loss. 

About 26,000 agents ditched the organization by the end of 2023, marking a nearly 2 percent reduction in its ranks and the first annual decline in more than a decade. The decrease brought the trade group — the nation’s largest by membership — down to 1.55 million members. 

NAR anticipated the drop-off, as high mortgage rates and low inventory stifled the housing market across the country. But the loss also adds to the group’s growing list of challenges, including an onslaught of antitrust litigation and leadership upheaval.

Though the group’s hurdles are mounting across the board, it suffered larger membership setbacks in some states more than others.  

Washington saw the largest annual decline in membership, down nearly 10 percent from 23,088 in December 2022 to 20,893 in December 2023. The state lost close to 1,300 members in just the last month alone. 

While the state association acknowledged NAR’s ongoing headwinds likely contributed, it chalked the drop up to the state’s housing market.

“With Washington currently grappling with greater affordability and inventory issues compared to many other states, a drop in membership as brokers leave the industry is not entirely surprising,” a spokesperson for the association wrote in a statement.

Membership also declined significantly in the District of Columbia, where the total dropped almost 9 percent annually. The district had 2,838 members at the end of 2023, down by 270 from the same period in 2022. 

In Louisiana, NAR lost more than 1,000 members last year, representing about a 6 percent decline. Almost all who left the group did so between November and December. 

A few territories under NAR’s umbrella gained members last year, particularly Puerto Rico. Membership on the island grew over 22 percent from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, up from 1,007 to 1,237. 

The Virgin Islands and Arkansas also reported modest increases, each up 3 percent year-over-year. Membership in the Virgin Islands rose from 375 to 387, while the total in Arkansas jumped from 10,881 to 11,251. 

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