There are fewer licensed real estate agents than there were last year. The number of agents has been going down but not as quickly as the number of home sales has gone down. The last half of 2010 through all of 2011 were the hardest post housing crash years and it is understandable that some agents moved on.
There are still too many agents but at least the odds are getting better. Not all members of the Minnesota association sell real estate. Some are in other related business, others are managers and some are part-time sales people. I don’t have all the numbers for the state of Minnesota as far as how many pieces of real property were sold last year but I can estimate and conclude that there are still twice as many agents as there were sales.
Members of the Minnesota Association of Realtors
Realtor association membership is a bit complicated. It is possible to have a real estate license and to not belong but agents who do not belong to the association can not list homes on our multiple listing service (MLS) Most agents are members of the MN association. We join a local association and automatically become members of the state and National Association. I have to say out of all of those associations I belong to I get the most value from being a member the Minnesota Association.
It’s an interesting ratio to be looking at: real estate agents/home sales. We’ve noticed the number of real estate agents dropping in our neck of the woods as well. Many are also saying that our real estate market is leveling out too. Nice to see it’s looking better for you in Minnesota!