With the boom, there was a huge rush into real estate jobs. With a slowdown, there is now a movement out of real estate jobs. The notable thing here is that even realtors themselves are admitting there are too many people in the field and it would be better for everyone if say 1 out of 5 of them quit. Dont hear comments like that everyday, do you Detroit?
Amid Slump, Real-Estate Agents Hang Up Their Blazers
Housing Downturn Leads To an Industry Shakeout; Seeking Alternative Careers
February 7, 2007
Wall Street Journal
When David Lereah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, addressed the group's convention in New Orleans in November, he got one of the biggest bursts of applause by predicting there would be fewer Realtors around in a year. Mr. Lereah said in an interview that he expects membership in the trade group to decrease by about 6% to 8% from the record of nearly 1.4 million reached in 2006.
The culling of agent ranks is a reaction to the downturn in housing that started around mid-2005. Sales of previously occupied homes last year declined 8% to 5.7 million, even as the number of agents continued to increase for the year as a whole.
Even before sales slowed, people in the industry said far too many agents were chasing too few deals. If hordes of inexperienced agents are scrapping for business, says Christopher Galler, a senior vice president of the Minnesota Association of Realtors, that can only lead to "a race to the bottom in fees."
More competition on commissions could strike many consumers as a good idea. Mr. Galler argues the result would be poor service. He says more productive agents, who complete 20 or more transactions per year, are better at solving problems than those who do only a few deals annually.
