The number of new people coming into the real estate business — people with a year or less of experience — jumped from five percent of the one million members to nine percent. NAR President Steve Brown suggested the influx “shows that those agents getting into the field are attracted to the many benefits and business opportunities that come with being a Realtor.”
Other analysts suggest weakness in other industries and the inability of young college graduates to find quality; career-building jobs in other sectors of the economy may be driving people toward real estate.
Supporting that contention is that the average age of a Realtor, which for years has hovered between 57 and 58, slid to 56 in 2013. Three percent of all members are under 30 years of age, 16 percent are between ages 30 and 44, more than 55 percent are between 45 and 64, and 24 percent are 65 and older.
On the money side, experience counts. NAR said the median gross income of a Realtor increased to $47,700 in 2013 from $43,500 in 2012, a 9.6 percent rise and a “sharp gain” from $34,900 in 2011. Members in business for more than 16 years earned a median of $70,200 and made 15 transactions.
Members with three-to-five years earned a median of $30,100 and had 10 transactions. Incomes also varied by license type, as members licensed as brokers earned $66,300 in 2013, while the median earnings for sales agents increased $1,000 from the previous year to $35,000.
How members got paid was basically unchanged. Sixty-eight percent of those polled said they were compensated through a split arrangement, 17 percent received all of the commission and another four percent receive a commission plus a share of profits. About 11 percent received some other form of compensation. As independent contractors, the vast majority has no benefits. Only five percent receive health insurance through their firm.
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