A hot housing market with skyrocketing housing prices as attracted many to the real estate industry. However, historically low inventory is creating quite the problem. We now have more agents looking to sell homes then are available. (WSJ)
At the end of January, there were 1.04 million homes for sale. That is down 26% from a year earlier and the lowest on record going back to 1982, according to the National Association of Realtors. Also in January, the NAR had 1.45 million members, up 4.8% from a year earlier.
The Journal also notes, that like most sales professions, the majority of people don’t make a lot of money especially in the beginning.
Consequently, most agents make little or even no money in the beginning, since they typically rely on commissions and don’t get paid unless a sale is completed. Realtors with two years of experience or less earned a median gross income of $8,900 from their real-estate work in 2019.
Not surprisingly, the total number of agents tends to ebb and flow in correlation with the typical cycles of the housing market. You would think that sellers would also ebb and flow with the market. COVID, of course, is playing a role in this well. You have to wonder if this glut of agents will be exactly what the industry needs when the economy re-opens with record home prices. I gave feeling the industry is going to be seeing a lot more sellers looking to capitalize.