The number of members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in 2023 declined for the first time since 2012. This trend also reflects the recovery of the property market after the financial crisis of 2007-2009, as the volume of home sales began to climb from 2011. The NAR is a North American trade association for real estate workers formed in 1908 and currently based in Chicago, Illinois. In 2022, the association had nearly 1.6 million members.
Employment in the real estate sector
The upward in NRA membership is mirrored in overall employment in the real estate sector in the United States. In 2023, 2.4 million people were employed in the sector, which indicates that the majority of workers are members of the NAR. Employees in the real estate, rental, and leasing industry in the U.S. earned slightly above the average wage in the country.
Membership growth ties in with growth in home sales
The growth in NAR membership also correlates with the growth of residential property sales. For instance, the number of new houses sold in the U.S. has been on the rise since 2011. American adults as a whole have been steady in their view that homeownership is an important part of the American Dream. However, the share of American Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996 – who view homeownership as important has been fluctuating since 2010. This adds an element of uncertainty to the future of the housing market because millennials are in their mid-twenties and thirties, which is widely viewed as the best time to buy a home from a home equity perspective.
