Survey – Declining Levels of Sales and Agent Satisfaction during 2008

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RISMEDIA, Dec. 8, 2008-Rexer Analytics announced this week the results of their New England Real Estate Agent Survey. Not surprisingly, the two-part tracking study showed declining levels of sales and agent satisfaction during 2008. However, many agents remain guardedly optimistic, with over half projecting that the coming year will be the same or better than a typical year, and 90% of agents reporting that they plan to remain in the real estate field for the foreseeable future.In April of 2008, Rexer Analytics assessed the experiences, priorities, and challenges of New England real estate agents through an online survey. In November, the agents who participated in the spring were asked a few follow-up questions about their experiences over the intervening six months and their current outlook given the dramatic recent market downturn.

Initial April 2008 Study

Two hundred eleven agents from the six New England states participated in the survey. To qualify for the study, agents had to have at least two years experience in the field. Thirty-eight percent of survey participants primarily work in Massachusetts, 29% in Connecticut, 14% in New Hampshire, 10% in Maine, 5% in Vermont, and 4% in Rhode Island.

Agents were diverse in terms of experience in the field with 44% being in the field between two and six years, but 30% having 20 or more years of experience. Nearly half (47%) of those surveyed made $40,000/year or less in the previous year and just over a quarter (27%) made more than $80,000/year. Eighty percent are employed full-time. Forty-two percent are employed by a large real estate firm, 12% by a regional firm, 20% by a small local firm, 21% own their own firm, and 5% indicated they were unaffiliated or had another type of job structure. Nearly all sold residential properties and close to half also sold commercial properties.

Real estate agents may be an optimistic group by nature: despite over half (53%) experiencing their “worst year ever” or a “worse than average year,” less than a quarter (24%) projected the next year to fall into these categories. Consistent with this is the fact that very few agents are looking to leave the field. Seventy percent indicated that it is “extremely likely” that they will remain in the field for the next two years, and another 20% indicated it is “likely.” In fact, only 4 of the 211 agents surveyed indicated that it was “extremely unlikely” that they will stay in the field of real estate.

Current market pressures may be keeping many agents from being “completely satisfied” (only 30% indicated this highest level of satisfaction), although most do tend toward being content, with an additional 47% being “satisfied.” This high level of satisfaction does not, however, translate into similar levels of advocacy for entrance into the field. Only 40% would “recommend” or “definitely recommend” that interested individuals become brokers now.

When given a list of 12 potential barriers to real estate agents doing their jobs effectively, the two primary obstacles identified by agents were “sellers who want to hold out for a price you feel is unreasonable” and “buyers who are uncertain about what they want.” These were identified as occurring frequently in the past year by 50% and 46% of agents respectively. Working with “buyers who are uncertain about what they want” was also significantly related to agents being less satisfied, as was “difficulty securing properties to sell” and “lack of support from agency.”

Agent satisfaction is enhanced by tenure in the field, having sold more properties in the past year, having a better than average past year, and being self-directed by owning a firm. It is somewhat depressed by doing business in Massachusetts versus the other New England states. Satisfaction is not related to the average home value of properties sold or education level of the agent.

Follow-up November 2008 Study

In April, 163 of the participants provided their e-mail address so that the survey results could be sent to them. Those agents were contacted again in November for a brief follow-up survey to determine how their last six months had been and to see how their outlook was in comparison to April. Seventy-one of the 163 agents completed the follow-up survey.

Overall satisfaction dropped notably: in April 31% of these agents were “completely satisfied,” while in November only 13% were. Conversely, in April only 7% of these agents were dissatisfied (indicated by selecting “dissatisfied” or “completely dissatisfied”) while in November this number rose to 24%.

Agents’ drop in satisfaction corresponded to their personal experiences becoming markedly worse over the intervening months, with 69% reporting that the past six months were worse than similar time periods in previous years (compared with 52% in April indicating this was the case for the previous year).

Expectations have certainly dimmed for these 71 agents: while only 23% saw the coming year as likely to be a below average year in April, that figure rose to 43% in November. There is a contingent that remains optimistic, however, with just over a quarter of agents in each time period feeling that this coming year will be better than average. Finally, agents remain resilient. The vast majority intend to persevere through these tough times, with over 90% indicating they are likely to remain agents over the next two years.

Rexer Analytics is an analytic and CRM consulting firm offering advanced analytic solutions to clients in a variety of industries including finance, technology, and retail services.

For more information, visit www.RexerAnalytics.com.

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Sunday, March 21, 2010