By any measure but one, the real estate market is sizzling. In 1998, the market racked up record numbers in home sales, rates of home price appreciation and housing construction.
But unlike other real estate booms, a record number of real estate agents has not flooded the business.
Take California, where during the late 1980s an estimated one of every 75 people in the state was a licensed real estate agent. Today, there are 70,000 real estate companies compared to 150,000 in 1990, according to the California Department of Real Estate.
In 1990, there were 147,500 members of the California Assn. of Realtors, and today there are 93,000, "even though we are three years deep into the recovery of the California real estate market," said the group's president, Joel Singer.
He says the number of people entering the business is creeping up, but not as it did during other real estate booms, when every housewife, laid-off worker and enterprising salesman hung up a real estate license.
Consolidation, better opportunities in other professions and technology explain the trend.
The legal barriers for getting a real estate license remain very low, but the rewards cannot compete with those of other jobs that are more certain and promise benefits that independent real estate agents don't enjoy.
Moreover, it can take months or even a year before agents earn their first commissions, a sacrifice that few people are willing to take today.
Although the real estate business is still very fragmented, with 87% of all real estate firms having only one office, there has been significant consolidation, with big franchise networks buying up local firms.
Another change in the real estate sales business is the slow elimination of those who are not adopting technology.
In the last two years, real estate agents have actively invested in technology. Working in an industry that once shunned even the basic computer tools, agents are buying new machines, getting online and marketing on the Internet.
Take Philadelphia-area Realtor Judi Wolfson, who uses a full fleet of computer tools and programs, including e-mail, which is critical to client contact; computer presentations for listing pitches; and spreadsheets to keep track of the money. She also uses computer-publishing tools for fliers, Web sites and labels.
