Income of Realtors Are Rising as Sales Pick Up

Things are looking up for real estate agents. And it goes all the way to their pockets.

According to the 2014 National Association of Realtors Member Profile, income and sales volume of real estate grew for the third year in a row as home prices went up by 11.5% from a year ago.

The survey also found an increase in new and younger members to NAR in 2013.

The survey's results are representative of the nation's Realtors; members of NAR account for about half of the approximately two million active real estate licensees in the U.S. Many non-member licensees are inactive or part time. Realtors go beyond state licensing requirements by subscribing to NAR's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and committing to continuing education. NAR members also have access to professional resources to better serve their clients' needs.

Lawrence Yun , NAR chief economist, said recovery in the housing market since the downturn continues to improve the earnings of real estate professionals. "Fueled mostly by rising home sales and prices, the median gross income of a Realtor increased to $47,700 in 2013 from $43,500 in 2012, marking a 9.6 percent rise and a sharp gain from $34,900 in 2011," he said. "Although the median number of transactions or commercial deals remained unchanged from last year at 12, this marked a continued return to pre-recession levels after bottoming out at seven transactions in 2008 and 2009."

There are two sides to every real estate transaction — one each for the seller and the buyer. As expected, median gross income and number of transactions generally increases with experience. Last year, NAR members in business for more than 16 years earned $70,200 and made 15 transactions. On the contrary, those with three-to-five years earned less than half that amount ($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.

Last year also brought an influx of new and younger members to NAR. Years of experience in real estate decreased to 12 years from 13 years in 2012; the typical tenure at a firm decreased to six years from seven years; and the age of members decreased to 56 years from 57 years. Three percent of all Realtors ® are under 30 years of age, 16 percent are between ages 30 and 44, and 24 percent are 65 and older.

"Realtors bring value to buyers and sellers, help build communities, and encourage responsible homeownership behaviors," said NAR President Steve Brown, co-owner of Irongate, Inc., Realtors in Dayton, Ohio. "The fact that the number of members with one year or less of experience rose to 9 percent in 2013 from 5 percent the year before shows that those agents getting into the field are attracted to the many benefits and business opportunities that come with being a Realtor."

The typical NAR member works 40 hours per week. Women represent 57 percent of all members, accounting for 53 percent of brokers and 62 percent of sales agents. More than three-quarters of all Realtors cite real estate as their only occupation, and 82 percent (up two percent from last year) are certain they will remain in the business for at least two more years. This share is higher than the previous two years, indicating the optimism that's seen in today's market.

Most members — 57 percent — are licensed as sales agents; 26 percent are brokers, 17 percent broker associates and 3 percent appraisers (some hold more than one license). Thirteen percent of members have one personal assistant, while 3 percent have two or more personal assistants.

Data from the NAR showed that the median age of its real estate agents is 52. It also added that only 5 percent of their members report selling real estate as their first job,” according to the Life Reimagined for Work website. It only goes to show that it’s never too late to get started in real estate.

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The program is equipped with a video search engine optimization (VSEO) tool that automatically generate meta tags and descriptions for virtual tours and listings agents have uploaded to the platform so that they would be found easily by consumers online.

The program also has tools for creating QR codes, e-flyers, and seller reports as bonus features.

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