Thinning the herd

From Inman News:

Realtor ranks expected to shrink this year

This year, membership in the National Association of Realtors is expected to drop after nine consecutive years of growth.

And good riddance, say some real estate professionals — fewer agents may be better for the industry as a whole.

The trade group’s membership grew 89.6 percent during the latest spurt, from 716,078 members in 1997 to 1.36 million Realtors in 2006. But real estate is a cyclical business, and the housing market is slumping.

It has happened before — Realtor membership, like home homes sales and prices, tends to ebb and flow with economic cycles but has generally risen over time.

NAR projects that membership will drop 4.3 percent this year, to 1.3 million, and fall another 10 percent from that level to 1.17 million in 2008.
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Michigan was the only state with a decline in Realtor membership in 2006 — membership in that state slipped from 33,397 in 2005 to 31,588 last year. Washington, D.C., also reported a decline during that period, from 2,655 members to 2,634 members.

Seven states had lower Realtor membership in March 2007 compared to March 2006, including Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.