Real Estate Incomes on the Rise?
Real Estate Incomes on the Rise?
REALTORS® may see a 13 percent rise in income this year compared to last year, according to projections by National Association of REALTORS®’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
The income increases are projected assuming that a 10 percent gain in home sales and 3 percent in home prices comes to fruition this year.
The projected median income increase would be the first in many years, after a sluggish few years in the industry. Last year, REALTORS® brought in $39,700 in revenues on average. The forecast for 2012 is $46,600, and $52,700 by 2013. (Yun emphasizes the figures are approximate because NAR does not collect data related to commission rates.)
According to the NAR data dating back to 2000, REALTOR® revenues peaked in 2004 at $66,100.
“Typical REALTOR® income during the frenzied home selling and home price years did not lead to a commensurate rise in income because REALTOR® membership grew by 75 percent right up to the peak bubble years,” Yun writes in a July 2 blog post at Realtor.org. “The pie was much bigger for sure, but there were way too many with knives looking to cut their share.”
“The anticipated 13 percent rise in REALTOR® income is partly based on expectations of no increase in membership,” Yun writes. “Should the membership figures rise — for example, to say 1.2 million — then the average income would actually decline despite the improving housing market conditions this year and next.”
View a full table of past and projected income for REALTORS®.
Source: “REALTOR® Income Forecast,” Economists’ Outlook (July 2, 2012)
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