It is not unusual these days to hear about job losses in any number of industries.
But one area that gets little publicity about a shrinking workforce is the real estate business.
It’s not the best of times for that industry, with sales slowing and credit tightening.
Those conditions have convinced many agents to find other work, or at least pray hard for a sale.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.
Rona Ahearn works at a real estate office in Conway that was doing well a few years ago.
Ahearn says back then, a dozen people worked with her.
She says since then, more than half those agents have left for greener pastures.
Well the business has dwindled so drastically in the past two years the people had to get out of real estate, because they were broke. You can’t make ends meet when you’re driving around paying 4 dollars for gas and no one is buying anything.
New Hampshire’s Association of Realtors tracks how many professionals pay dues.
In May, 2007, 6 thousand 2 hundred and sixty four agents paid up.
A year later that number had dropped to 5 thousand, 8 hundred forty three…a nearly 7 percent drop.
Association president Jim Lyons says many agents can’t work for long without making sales.
Generally, most people work on a commission basis. So when sales decline, there’s no steady pay check. So it is typical to see a decline in numbers…
In tough times, struggling real estate agents can find themselves needing to find another job.
Mona Dunphy of Exeter says that’s what happened to her.
She tried to start her own agency seven months ago.
But she wasn’t able to sell any properties.
So Dunphy decided to try and resurrect her old career taking pictures.
I had been in the business several years ago as a photographer. And I called the company back up and told them times were lean and what I was doing and they took me on.
The problems happening in New Hampshire are also happening on a wider scale.
The National Association of Realtors saw its numbers dip last year for the first time in years.
This year, the number of dues paying members fell even more ….by around 10 percent from 2007.
Stephanie Singer of the National Association of Realtors says a recent survey also shows that many who are still working in the field are making less.
Numbers that we released… do indicate that our members median income has decreased from 2007 to 2008. But like any business you’d see realtors with more years of experience tend to make more money than those who have just entered the profession.
That median income the national association tracks works out to about a bit above 42,000 dollars a year.
Of course, many people who leave the field probably made a lot less than that.
That’s why they’ve taken positions in other industries that offer steady paychecks.
Still, some of those ex agents say they could see getting back in the real estate business.
It would just take a better sales environment to convince them to jump back in.
