Slow Housing Market Has Real Estate Agents Fleeing the Field
Hey there, house hunters and curious minds! Have you noticed a bit of a slowdown in the housing market? You're not alone. Elevated mortgage rates, low inventory, and high prices have made many Americans feel less than enthusiastic about buying homes right now. And guess what? It's causing quite a shakeup among real estate agents.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of full-time real estate agents and brokers dropped to 440,000 in 2023, which is a significant decrease from the 543,000 we saw back in 2019. Remember those days when the average mortgage rate was around 4%? Ah, simpler times.
April Strickland, a seasoned broker from Gainesville, Florida, shared with the Washington Post that this current market is the toughest she’s ever experienced, even worse than the post-2008 financial crisis. She put it bluntly: “Quite frankly, realtors are running out of money.”
Last year saw the lowest sales of previously occupied homes in 28 years, as reported by the National Association of Realtors. The market's sluggishness is due to a perfect storm: mortgage rates have more than doubled, homes are in short supply, and prices are through the roof.
An eye-opening analysis by the Consumer Federation of America found that nearly half of the real estate agents they looked at had sold one or no homes the previous year. Many agents work sporadically and often juggle another job.
New rules from a $418 million antitrust settlement are also shaking things up. The National Association of Realtors agreed to settle multiple lawsuits accusing them of inflating real estate commissions. As a result, starting in August, real estate databases will no longer include offers of compensation for buyers’ agents, meaning those agents can’t rely on a cut of the seller’s earnings anymore. Some experts predict that up to 30% of the industry's commissions could vanish.
So, it's a tough time to be a realtor. The market's challenges are pushing many to reconsider their careers, and the future looks uncertain with these new changes coming into play.
🌐 Sources
reddit.com - Market seems to have slowed down significantly! : r/realtors
jetstreamtech.io - What Happens to Real Estate Agents When the Market ...
theceshop.com - Handling Ups & Downs of the Real Estate Market
newsweek.com - Realtors 'Running Out of Money' as Housing Market ...
housingwire.com - 5 steps to succeed as a real estate agent in a down market