The Real State of Real Estate: Everything is Changing

**Brian Buffini** (0:00)
Hey, you got a minute? What if I told you the real estate industry has changed more in the last six months than it has in the previous 10 years? That's not just a headline, that's the reality. New commission conversations, artificial intelligence, changing interest rates, higher consumer expectations, and a mass of consolidations that's still going on. The ground is shifting fast. But here's what history teaches us. Every major change creates a new generation of leaders. Not because they saw the future, but because they adapted to it. Here's the part that should encourage you. People will always need someone they can trust when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. Markets change, technology changes. The rules will continue to change. But trust never goes out of style. If you keep learning, keep serving, and keep adapting, you won't just make it through this season, you'll help shape what's next.
In today's Blueprint, I want to talk about the state of the real estate industry. The industry itself has gone through monumental changes. And it's very important that we get a clear perspective, kind of the 30,000-foot view of what's going on. So, I'm going to talk about the demographics, who's in the business now, affiliations, who are people working with, and then the actual production of the typical agent. So, let's dive right in.
Demographics, right? So, the typical agent had 13 years' experience last year, which is up from 12 Well, that doesn't sound too dramatic, except that number used to change by like a month, a decade.
So, it used to be that the average real estate agent was in the business nine years, and then after a year, it would go to 9.1 or 8.9. So, the fact that the age, the typical experience of an agent, has increased a year, shares two things. One, very few people are coming into the industry compared to what's normal. And number two, we've now reached a point where people are staying in.
So, this time last year, when I gave a bowl of predictions, less than 70% of agents said they considered for a fact that they'd be in the business two years from now.
That number just came out at 76%.
What does that mean? I believe we've hit the bottom, and that agents are like, no, this is my career, this is what I'm doing, I'm squaring up my jaw, I love this business, and I'm gonna keep doing it. So it's not just these numbers, you have to understand the why behind the numbers. And so to jump for an entire year in a year is astronomical. And it means the vets are staying, the vets are winning, not as many new people are coming in, and we've reached a point where a whole bunch of folks say, hey, this is the new normal, I'm up for it, I'm a pro, I'm gonna thrive in this. Now, if you were coming up with an avatar of who the typical agent, if you're marketing to the real estate industry, here's who you want. The typical realtor was a 57-year-old white female who attended college and owns a home, which I really like the last part.
And just to kind of feed into that a little bit, we've never seen this number. Now, I'll give you a little history of the real estate business. This was the grumpy old white man's business for years. When you see pictures in the 1950s and 60s of real estate offices, it is white dudes with white shirts and black ties. Short sleeve shirts, actually, all look like IBM. It wasn't until 1973 and 1974, and women came into the workforce. And there's a whole bunch of historical reasons I can tell you why that happened. But it was basically Vietnam War.
We got off the gold standard, and all of a sudden, it became imperative. Women were looking for an additional source of revenue to support their homes. And so, the most obvious place to go to was real estate. Women are great at creating homes, the nesting factor. Women loved homes, and all of a sudden, here we go. So, the real estate business between 1973 and 1975 almost doubled in the number of members of the National Association of Realtors, and 82% of that growth came from women. And by the way, that was the day real estate got good, in my opinion. Because, and it's an interesting dynamic. So, where are we at today? As of today, and this number just jumped again, 66% of all realtors in the current National Association of Realtors are female. Now, that doesn't sound that big a deal, right? 66%, 16% over half, you know, it's like, that's how people hear that stuff. Well, you know, my job is to kind of ring the bell on things that are a big deal. It means only a third of the agents are men.