Understanding the real estate industry can help you grow your business for the future. Especially since the housing market has been experiencing quite the boom over the past year and a half, it’s important to understand the demographics of home buyers and sellers, as well as the statistics for other real estate agents.

Some real estate agent statistics

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), there are over 140,000 licensed brokers, realtors, and sales agents currently working in Canada. In the United States, there are over 1.5 million realtors as of October 2021.

Because there are so many agents out there, let’s take a look at some real estate agent demographics to get a better sense of what a typical realtor looks like in North America.

How old is the average real estate agent?

While you have to be at least 18 years old to become a real estate agent, there are realtors of all ages. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the typical real estate agent is a 54-year-old white female who attended college. Female realtors make up over 60% of all realtors and the median age is 52.

Experience

In 2020, the experience of all realtors was a median of 8 years. Data also showed that roughly 30% of real estate agents had some college education or a bachelor’s degree before starting their career, while about 13% had a graduate degree or above.

What is the average salary in the real estate industry?

Because real estate agents depend on commissions for their salary, this statistic can fluctuate very easily. For example, because housing prices have skyrocketed this year because of the real estate market boom, it is likely that the average salary increased quite significantly.

The average salary of a real estate agent can also change depending on the location and type of units they sell. A real estate agent working in a location where they predominantly sell homes for an average of $400,000 will likely have a different household income than an agent who sells commercial properties in a big city.

Again, a new agent will likely make less as they are still building a clientele, while an experienced agent who has built a name for themself can likely make their real estate transactions their primary source of income.

According to the NAR, the median gross income for realtors last year was just over $40,000, and the average realtor worked roughly 35 hours/week. In 2021, however, the average income was around $100,000.

Recent sales statistics

Some highlights from the past few months of home sales in 2021 include:

In October, national home sales rose over 8% on a month-over-month basis
The number of listed homes rose over 3%
So far, over 580,000 homes have traded hands on MLS this year
The national average home price in October 2021 was $716,585
According to the Globe and Mail, residential real estate transactions’ total dollar value has hit over $300 billion nationwide

Some general real estate agent statistics

Because there are so many real estate agents, there is demographic data in a variety of real estate topics out there. Here are a few more interesting real estate demographics:

Career choice

While you can be a realtor at any age, most real estate agents don’t choose it as their first career. Only around 4% of real estate agents get into the industry first. It’s not uncommon for real estate agents to try out a different career path before turning to real estate. They may even continue doing that job while running their real estate business part-time.

Technology habits

According to TheClose.com, real estate agents that are making over $100,000 in gross commission income have been more likely to adopt and use advanced technology tools, like drone photography, than those that make under this amount. Recent sellers and current homeowners have also said that they would be more likely to list their home with a real estate agent who uses videography to market the home.

Speaking of drone photography, listings that used a drone as part of the advertising sold roughly 60% faster than listings without it.

Social media use

Social media use has also been on the rise amongst most realtors in the past few years. Over 70% of female and male realtors make use of their platforms for their business. This is a great way to reach potential customers and increase awareness of your brand online. Not only can you share your listings and photos of housing units on these sites, but you can also engage with potential clients.

It is likely that this number will only increase in the coming years as business dealings and real estate services become more and more digitized.

Home sellers

For some home seller statistics, in 2020, roughly 89% of home sellers and buyers used a real estate agent or broker. The typical home seller in the past year was 56 years old while the typical home size was about 1,900 square feet. The average number of deals closed for agents living in the US is about 12.

The median number of residential transactions done by all realtors in 2020 was 10 deals.

Illustration of booming real estate market

NAR statistics

Some highlighted statistics from the NAR include the following:

68% of realtors are licensed, professional agents
Roughly 20% of members held broker licenses while 13% held broker associated licenses
The average real estate agent earned 15% of their deals from repeat clients and just under 20% of their deals came through referrals from their past client base. 75% of past customers would use their agent again or recommend the agent to others
Around 53% of real estate agents were affiliated with an independent company, while roughly 88% of members were independent contractors at their offices
Over 5.6 million existing homes were sold by real estate agents in 2020 across the United States
The three most active social media platforms in the industry are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram while text messages, emails, and phone calls were the most popular methods of communication between clients, potential buyers, and other agents
Over 80% of real estate agents own their place of residence and about 37% own a secondary piece of property
About 25% of home buyers as of 2020 are older Gen-Y individuals or millennials. 86% of these individuals were first-time home buyers
The median household income of all buyers in 2018 was $93,200 and only about 35% of all buyers had one or more children

The National Association of Realtors changes every year while some agents retire and other individuals begin their new career path. While these demographics are helpful, they are just a small snapshot of the multitude of real estate agents and homeowners across the continent.

real estate agent holding mini model home

Closing remarks

Anyone can be a real estate agent and can help people find the right property that suits their wants and needs. Making a name for yourself as a real estate agent can take time and experience, but the reward is worth the effort. Helping people find their next home and meeting new people every day while working as an agent can be such a great reward.

These industry statistics can help you understand the real estate market’s past, present, and future, as well as the types of agents and brokers that are across the country.