{"id":653,"date":"2019-10-08T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realestateleads.ca\/blog\/?p=653"},"modified":"2023-09-26T23:02:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T23:02:03","slug":"https-www-realestateleads-ca-blog-wp-admin-post-new-php-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realestateleads.ca\/blog\/https-www-realestateleads-ca-blog-wp-admin-post-new-php-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Vancouver Seeing Marked Drop in Number of Realtors Working in City"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The real estate market in Canada has been one of the most charged topics of discussion over recent years, and whether you would have sat on either side of the debate was by and large based on whether you were an existing homeowner or not. This of course applies to the entirety of the general populace, but for Real Estate agents the \u2018way things were\u2019 were for the most part better than the \u2018way things are\u2019 considering the current dynamics of the housing market.<\/p>\n

What is meant by that is the way that across the country as a whole the market is considered to be \u2018flat\u2019, meaning most home are generally neither appreciating or depreciating in value. However, in high-demand urban metro areas like Vancouver, the market has actually take a significant downturn. Much of this has been attributable to measures taken by the current NDP government to cool the market and suppress housing market investment speculation.<\/p>\n

For realtors working in the area, it\u2019s not rocket science for us to understand that this is a negative for business. However, it seems that the market downturn is actually creating some good by means of reducing the number of active competition competing for the fewer clients out there to be had.<\/p>\n

Here at Real Estate Leads<\/a>, our online real estate lead generation system for Canada is an excellent way for new realtors to have the power of Internet marketing working for them and allowing them to get more out of their client prospecting. It\u2019s always beneficial, and perhaps even more so when paired with the new reality of the industry we\u2019re about to touch on today.<\/p>\n

Far Fewer Realtors Now Practicing in GVA<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s common knowledge that the Lower Mainland\u2019s real estate market boomed between 2014 and 2017, and with that boom more and more newly-licensed realtors arrived on the scene. By the time 2017 had drawn to a close there more than 13,500 realtors working in the region. The age-old saying \u2018only so much of the pie to go around\u2019 was very apt, and in truth it still is \u2013 to a lesser extent.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s set the stage for analyzing all this by going back nearly 20 years, to the year 2000. Back then there were fewer than 7,000 realtors operating in the GVA and the Fraser Valley in 2000. Over the next 17 years, the numbers of this increase massively outdistanced the increases in general population. A lot of people were aiming to get in a good thing, and many still acting on the belief that real estate was their ticket to \u2018getting rich quick\u2019<\/p>\n

(If there\u2019s one thing EVERY would-be realtor should know, it\u2019s that THIS^ is never how it works)<\/p>\n

But back to topic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite natural for cities where housing is expensive to have a higher number of realtors than cities where housing is seen as being more affordable. The correlation here is simple; as home prices go up, so does the financial incentive to take advantage of higher commission prices.<\/p>\n

The Downturn Effects<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As most will know, over the past two years the Vancouver real estate market has seen a downturn. Lower median home values means many homeowners are postponing the sale of the home (a wise move) while would-be homebuyers are being influenced negatively by \u2013 among other reasons \u2013 the new mortgage stress test rules introduced by the BoC.<\/p>\n

So it would seem that now that the allure of \u2018easy money\u2019 or accelerated real estate corporation growth is a thing of the past, for now at least, the number of real estate agents doing business in the GVA has dropped quite considerably.<\/p>\n

The estimates are that somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000 realtors have dropped out of the picture in Vancouver. <\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

This can be seen as encouraging for new realtors who understand the level of commitment required to succeed in this business, but it should also serve as precaution for anyone who thinks it\u2019s an ideal time to make the same move Yes, there\u2019s less competition, but the market is depressed and there\u2019s still enough competition to make it so that those who don\u2019t apply themselves 100% and work extremely hard are going to likely be a part of that former-realtor statistic sometime in the near future.<\/p>\n

Giving Up Licenses<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the numbers of transactions in Vancouver have fallen, many realtors have chosen to give up their licenses and pursue another means of making a living. For many it\u2019s a situation where once the fees associated with keeping the license start to outweigh the revenue generated by using it, it doesn\u2019t become a worthwhile investment of time and energy and therefore not the best career choice.<\/p>\n

For many realtors in this situation, it may be a reality where they realize they need to put more time and effort into building their real estate business, but they simply don\u2019t have any more time to give to it.<\/p>\n

Now to be clear, this is not a mass exodus from the realtor market, and it\u2019s never going to be that. If anything we should see it as industry correction that is precipitated by the economic correction seen in the housing market.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll conclude today with a listing of the number of realtors per capita working in major cities in BC, and then comparisons to a couple of spots well elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n