Real-Estate Agents Are Quitting the Slow Housing Market

[Zorro]

In fourth year of struggling market, even real-estate professionals who made it this far are reaching breaking point

Kim Taylor bet her career on the housing market.

In mid-2023, the real-estate agent launched her own brokerage with her husband, Gordon Taylor. The market in the Fort Worth, Texas, area had cooled from its pandemic-era frenzy, but business was good. Taylor started out with a team of seven agents and quickly brought six more onboard.

By 2024, high mortgage rates and prices were weighing on demand, and homes sat on the market. Most of Taylor’s agents had to find other part-time or full-time jobs to stay afloat. Her husband took a job last year working for a school district.

“We just became a bleeding artery,” said Taylor, who started working in real estate in 2015. “The last 11 months have been the hardest of my career.” She closed the brokerage this spring and joined another firm.

The slowest housing market in decades is stretching into its fourth year, and even real-estate agents who made it this far are reaching a breaking point. Most of them are independent contractors and get paid when a deal closes. With fewer sales to go around and homes taking longer to sell, more agents are ditching the industry or finding second jobs.

https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/real-estate-agents-are-quitting-the-slow-housing-market-d95fc524?st=iNaFGb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink