Real estate agents are leaving the profession as the housing market continues to slow, industry officials say.
The Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors is expecting a 2.5 percent reduction in membership in the coming year, said Executive Vice President Jodie Landers.
But that figure pales in comparison to the figure predicted by Greater Capital Area Realtors Association.
“I expect a drop off of about 15 [percent] to 20 percent in the agent population in the next one to two years,” said Holly Worthington, president of the Washington, D.C., organization.
There are more than 26,000 agents who are members of the Greater Capital Area Realtors Association and the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, while the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors has about 4,500 members.
Jill Landsman, a spokesman for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, said some member agents are taking second jobs, such as teaching or retail, to make up for decreased incomes rather than leaving the professional all together.
But Landers said in Baltimore, it is more typical for people to hold Realtor licenses as a second profession.
“We have about 40 percent of our members who are full-time dedicated professional Realtors,” Landers said. “The other 60 percent are half-time or part-time.”
Anita Davis, Region 6 vice president for the Women?s Council of Realtors, said her organization has seen a slight increase in membership from people who are entering the real estate industry as a vehicle to launch their own business.
“This is not just for people who want to come in and make a quick buck,” Davis said. “People who are coming into this industry as a profession are going to be here for the long term.”
While Landers said he doesn?t expect to see growth in the number of Realtors in the coming months, he has been surprised recently that there hasn?t been a rapid decline.
“We had budgeted for a flat year expecting that we would not see an increase in membership, but we had 500 new members this year,” he said. “And in October, we took in 85 new members.”
