The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently published its 2018 REALTORS® Member Profile, a random study of NAR’s membership based on a variety of economic and demographic characteristics as well as business practices.
Overall, the total number of REALTORS® rose from 1.22 million in March 2017 to 1.30 million in April 2018. The report showed that the overall median age of REALTORS® has risen from 53 to 54 this past year, however as recently as 2015, the median age of a REALTOR® was 57. This recent drop in age may be attributed both to members retiring and to new younger entrants to the business including that 33 percent of REALTORS® were over 60 years old and five percent were less than 30, slightly up from last year.
Additionally, for the third year in a row, inventory has plagued members across the country as 35 percent of REALTORS® cited finding the right property as the biggest challenge facing potential buyers.
“A familiar story lingers from last year, as limited inventory continues to plague many housing markets across the country. For the fifth year in a row, the difficulty finding the right property has surpassed the difficulty in obtaining a mortgage as the most cited reason limiting potential homebuyers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a
news release about the report.
NAR also created an
infographic about the profile and the
highlights of the report are available here. The
full report can be purchased online as well.