Press Release

Realtor Pay Continues Long Slide

The pay for residential real estate agents has been steadily falling since 2002. But it's not all bad news.

(Boonton, NJ, June 15, 2010) — Realtors again saw their paychecks shrink in 2009, although the rate of decline slowed, according to the 2010 National Association of Realtors Member Profile.

As reported in the June issue of Real Estate Broker's Insider, median pay for Realtors was $35,700 last year, down from $36,700 in 2008, $42,600 in 2007, and $47,700 in 2006.

Realtor pay has been steadily falling since 2002, when median pay was $52,200, according to NAR. Compensation was held in check by an influx of agents during the boom market.

The good news, if you can call it that: Realtor income fell only 3 percent in 2009, following a 14 percent decline in 2008. The bad news: That income doesn't account for business expenses, meaning that hundreds of thousands of Realtors are scraping only a modest living from the industry.

Experience and effort remained crucial factors in determining pay, the NAR study shows.

Realtors in the business for two years or less earned a median of $8,800 (up from $8,600 in 2008), while those in the business for 16 years or more earned $52,300 (down from $53,900 in 2008).

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