Dana Mattioli in the Wall Street Journal has an article on what real estate agents are doing to supplement their incomes during the downturn. But in the article there are 2 amazing paragraphs of statistics that are worth sharing.
Realtors, agents, brokers and builders rely on sales and commissions for most of their income. And their incomes plunged as sales of existing homes fell 13.3% to 4.9 million last year from 7.1 million in 2005, the most recent peak. The National Association of Realtors says median income for Realtors and brokers fell to $36,700 last year from a high of $49,300 in 2004. The group’s membership fell to 1.14 million in September from 1.35 million in September 2006.
Andy Reisinger was caught in the downturn. After eight years in real estate, Mr. Reisinger, 36 years old, was laid off in January 2008 as a sales manager for a Coldwell Banker office in Lehigh Acres, Fla. He quickly learned other real-estate jobs were scarce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 310,100 employees in real-estate offices in August, down 17% from August 2007. The figure excludes most agents, who are self-employed. via WSJ
So agent and broker income has dropped over 25% in the past 4 years. And that is not even bringing to the table the 210,000 agents that left the business whose income would be $0.00 in the equation.
Add to this that real estate office employees, the bookkeepers and assistants, who have lost their jobs. 17 percent of them in 2 years have gone away leaving a huge hole in the support functions of the typical office. We are looking at a significant chunk of income.
Stats and demographics do not mean a great deal at the end of the day, but they do give us a picture of the carnage that has gone on in the real estate business.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
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With my luck I jumped in early 2007 when I got my real estate license. It’s been tough but hoping for the best if I stick it out. Luckily my wife has the full time job with health insurance.
Things are tough for Real Estate Agents. My brother went to work for a movers company which ended up helping him supplement his income just fine, luckily!
I have had the opposite effect in real estate. I AM MORE Successful right NOW in all my 7 years of being a realtor. Infact this is the time to get back in the game for all retired Agents and Brokers. Jump in at bottom and get out at the top. There is so-much opportunity out there now it’s just rediculous. I had a tough time surviving as a realtor when the market was crazy and runing wild. To survive I had to buy, sell, rent and flip my own properties.
I am so glad I DID NOT sell a house to a buyer, back then, that was over inflated and cause them to be sitting in a house today with negative equity. This has paid off today, because I am dont advertise and I am getting buyers left,right and center. JUST Hang in there and be fair, honest, intelegent and smart with prospective buyers you come in contact with. Most of all, care for your buyers like your own family! In addition, I was able to cut back and save by shopping at places like http://www.pricebelow.net, walmart etc