Some Interesting Real Estate Employment Statistics
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.
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Great blog, keep the great content coming! 
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Comment by peter spadafore on 14 October 2009:
In response to your real estate statistics, we at Property Professionals, have solutions for the independent agent or broker who wants name recoginition and an organization. Also, looking for agents or brokers who want to supplement their income and build a residual income.
Comment by Discount Las Vegas Homes on 19 October 2009:
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.
Comment by Ranae on 28 October 2009:
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!