Another 93 agents have hung up their licenses during the 1st quarter of 2010. Washoe County now has 2,644 Active real estate licensees – this number represents a 3.4 percent decrease from 4Q 2009 as well as another new low (since I began tracking the data). See January’s post, Number of licensed RE agents continues to drop.
The number of Washoe County agents placing their licenses in Inactive status increased slightly to 803 licensees – a 3 percent increase.
Statewide numbers show similar movements. The currently 22,139 licensed agents represents a 2.1 percent decrease from 4Q 2009. The 5,652 inactive agents statewide represent a 2.6 percent increase.
| Active | Inactive | Total | |
| March 2010 | 2,644 | 803 | 3,447 |
| November 2009 | 2,737 | 779 | 3,516 |
| September 2009 | 2,737 | 796 | 3,533 |
| August 2009 | 2,725 | 817 | 3,542 |
| March 2009 | 2,770 | 1,022 | 3,792 |
| December 2008 | 2,888 | 1,001 | 3,889 |
| September 2008 | 2,791 | 1,011 | 3,802 |
| June 2008 | 2,984 | 1,085 | 4,069 |
| January 2008 | 3,104 | 1,142 | 4,246 |
| October 2007 | 3,176 | 1,134 | 4,310 |
| August 2007 | 3,229 | 1,137 | 4,366 |
| June 2007 | 3,221 | 1,237 | 4,458 |
| April 2007 | 3,166 | 1,304 | 4,470 |
| Active | Inactive | Total | |
| November 2009 | 22,139 | 5,652 | 27,791 |
| November 2009 | 22,612 | 5,802 | 28,414 |
| September 2009 | 22,865 | 5,943 | 28,808 |
| August 2009 | 22,920 | 6,066 | 28,986 |
| March 2009 | 23,466 | 7,448 | 30,914 |
| December 2008 | 24,327 | 7,457 | 31,784 |
| September 2008 | 23,814 | 7,345 | 31,159 |
| June 2008 | 25,986 | 7,518 | 33,504 |
| January 2008 | 26,997 | 7,470 | 34,467 |
| October 2007 | 28,115 | 6,970 | 35,085 |
| August 2007 | 28,548 | 6,988 | 35,536 |
| June 2007 | 28,763 | 7,418 | 36,181 |
| April 2007 | 28,886 | 7,723 | 36,609 |
Source: Nevada Real Estate Division – April 2010
http://www.red.state.nv.us/realestate/stats/stats_history.htm
geopower
Out of curiosity I took your sales data and agent data and put it together to get the average sales volume per active agent per month. I used the median sale price since that’s what gets posted. I know mean would have been better for calculating total sales volume, but I didn’t want to go looking for it, so results are approximate. There have been some excursions, but we are pretty close to where we were in April 2007 for sales volume per active agent. So I guess the agents who remain should still be making a living.
volume $ per active agent
Mar-10 $80,080,000.00 $30,287.44
Nov-09 $80,500,000.00 $29,411.76
Sep-09 $96,692,960.00 $35,328.08
Aug-09 $86,711,800.00 $31,820.84
Mar-09 $73,800,000.00 $26,642.60
Dec-08 $64,371,300.00 $22,289.23
Sep-08 $85,651,500.00 $30,688.46
Jun-08 $96,862,500.00 $32,460.62
Jan-08 $47,025,000.00 $15,149.81
Oct-07 $71,336,000.00 $22,460.96
Aug-07 $94,855,000.00 $29,375.97
Jun-07 $105,280,000.00 $32,685.50
Apr-07 $99,040,000.00 $31,282.38
Guy Johnson
geopower, thank you for doing the exercise. Interesting results.
And, yes, some of us are still making a living.
Btw, I always welcome new clients or referrals. 😉
skeptical
~$30k in sales volume per agent per month?
That’s ~$900/month in commissions (not including the broker’s share). Not enough to live on.
So, I’ll guess that over half the agents are dormant, and a small percentage are garnering what high end sales that are still transacting.
No matter which way you slice it, it’s a tough business. Still, don’t trust ’em any further than I can spit. Except for Guy, of course ;)…..
billddrummer
To geopower,
Great stats, and interesting take on it.
I wonder if the 80/20 rule applies?
If 20% of the agents generate 80% of the sales volume, then 529 agents generated $64,064,000 in sales volume during March 2010. That works out to $121,103.97/agent, or an average commission of $3,633.11/mo.
Better than inclinejj as far as making a living, but still a far cry from what many of us outside the business thought.
I for one thought real estate agents made a lot more money than that.
And for the rest? Look at it as a part-time job.
Sully
billd, If I’m not mistaken the number should have been $1816/mo. Commissions split 50/50 between buyer/seller, then again for broker and salesperson. Not sure of the exact percentage, but 1/4 of total commission seems most likely.
Anonymous Coward
As an outsider I expected low numbers per month per RE agent (as explained below) but was still surprised how low those numbers were.
I’d partially blame the NAR, whose primary interest seems to be their own bottom line (which is maximized by maximizing the number of members) rather than the bottom line of those they allegedly represent (which is not optimized by the same conditions). I suspect their efforts to establish de-facto price-fixing of the services of their members helps to contribute to this effect.
But that’s probably a bit unfair to the NAR. I’d expect this would happen whenever a business has low/negligible barriers to entry: it will expand until it is no longer attractive to join. And at a time when the market is contracting…
Slate magazine had an interesting article summarizing research on this effect a few years ago: http://www.slate.com/id/2124506
The only upside to what’s going on now is that I’d expect (or hope?) that the current thinning of the herd will improve the quality of those who remain. I would hope and expect that remaining fraction will include Guy.
SkrapGuy
When a median priced house sells at $180K, at the standard 6% commission, it is $10,800. Split one half to buyer’s realtor and one half to seller’s realtor, that is $5,400 to each. Then split 50/50 with realtor’s broker, that is $2,700. Before taxes.
Back in 2003-2006, when a chimpanzee could have made a living selling real estate, a lot of people flocked into the business. It is more difficult to get a beautician’s license that a realtor’s license. Now, it isn’t the easy money gig it was a few years ago.
Guy Johnson
skeptical said: “Still, don’t trust ‘em any further than I can spit. Except for Guy, of course.”
…Thank you, skeptical.
billddrummer said: “I for one thought real estate agents made a lot more money than that.”
…I was under the same impression when I entered this business. 😉
Anonymous Coward said: “I would hope and expect that remaining fraction will include Guy.”
…Thank you for your sentiments. Rest assured I will remain a part a the fraction.
billddrummer
To Sully,
Thanks. I forgot about the agent/broker split. Is it truly 50%?
Sounds like a great deal for the broker, not so much for the agent.
smarten
billddrummer, the broker/agent split is negotiable, just like the sales commission with your listing agent. I know top producers who have a 75%-25% or 80%-20% split. I know of others whose split with their broker is on a graduated scale. Perhaps 50%-50% for the first $X.00 in commissions; dropping to 75%-25% for the next $X.00; and so on.
But regardless, there generally is some sort of a split [although I know of some agents that keep 100% of their commissions, but they’re required to pay a monthly “desk fee” and cover their broker with E&O insurance.
MikeZ
LOTS of agents are still part-timers. I work with 3 who have their licenses and use them to buy, not to sell.
I would guess that he average/agent figures from the total sales data is way off for full-timers like Guy.
Sully
Seeing how the last Market condition report showed 574 sales (including Carson City and Fallon) and there are 2644 active agents in Washoe County – it seems ALL the agents are part timers. 🙂
DownButNotOut
The 80/20 rule and and the fact it’s easier to get into RE than beauticians school pretty well sums it up. Tough sledding. But I have to believe Guy is in the 20%. The rest of us in business? Well like a lot of professions other than union or government jobs, its a dogfight out there.
Donna
Most of those “active” agents don’t do much more than send in their dues every year. I would be surprised if there are more than 750 people who get up every day and go to their office to sell real estate for 40 or more hours a week. Maybe another 500 who “work part time” in the field. Go look at the Chase website and see how many of the realtors in that office have just 1 or 2 active listings. There just are not enough buyers to keep all these people working anything near full time.