Is Now The Time To Be A Real Estate Agent? Active Agents Say Yes!

After the post-pandemic slowdown, the real estate market is ramping back up in 2025!

Despite some economic uncertainty regarding the new administration’s fiscal and geopolitical policies, we’re seeing positive signs of increasing activity in the housing market, which is creating new opportunities for buyers, sellers, and agents.

Interest rates have dipped from their 2023 high, giving buyers more purchasing power and incentivizing them to make their move. At the same time, these lower interest rates are loosening the “golden handcuffs” that have held homeowners captive in hyper-low-interest mortgages. And, frankly, many Americans have realized that the historically low interest rates of the post-recession era are not coming back any time soon, so they’re not going to wait around any longer.

Here’s how today’s US housing market compares to the last few years:

• The median sale price in the US is $427,430 (as of December 2024). This is up a healthy 6.2% compared to December 2023.

• 400,538 homes sold in December 2024. This represents a strong 11.8% year-over-year gain.

• In December 2024, the average American home took around 50 days to sell. This is nearly a week longer than the average days on market (DOM) the previous December. But, to be fair, homes typically take longer to sell in the winter. Over the summer of 2024, homes sold in around 32 days, just two days longer than the previous summer’s 30-day average.

The increases in sales prices and transactions indicate increasing demand, while the longer DOM shows that buyers aren’t feeling rushed.

What the Changing Market Means for Real Estate Agents in 2025

For buyers and sellers, the 2025 housing market appears to be comfortably balanced. There may be neighborhoods in which buyers or sellers hold a clear advantage, and buyer competition may get tighter as we enter the busy spring/summer market, but for now, buyers and sellers are on relatively level footing.

It’s less obvious how the current market is affecting real estate agents. To understand this, we need to dig a little deeper. Let’s start with the good news for real estate agents in 2025.

Positive Changes for Agents in Today’s Market

The slower market is presenting several opportunities for agents in 2025. Here are some of the noteworthy benefits of slowing market conditions.

• More buyers and sellers mean more business for agents. A big part of your job as an agent is keeping your pipeline full of buyers and sellers. With more people looking to make a move in 2025, it’s easier to find qualified clients. That means more clients for more deals and more money!

• Fair-weather agents have exited the market. We all know agents who got their real estate license at the peak of the pandemic market, looking for a quick buck. Those agents were the first to quit when it got harder to land listings in 2023 and 2024. This is good news for serious agents in 2025. Fewer agents mean less competition for business. Just as importantly, weeding out the fair-weather agents means the consummate professionals are sticking around, which elevates the entire industry and its reputation.

• Your clients may be more satisfied with your service. During the hot seller’s market of the pandemic, many buyers were forced to offer more than asking, include escalation clauses, and waive contingencies, which left them feeling unsatisfied with their agents (through no fault of the agent, of course). During the slower market, sellers were unsatisfied with their agents when they settled for a buyer with a below-asking-price offer or concession. In today’s balanced market, you have a chance to negotiate more aggressively on your client’s behalf, they can walk away feeling like they got a better deal. This can improve their perception of you as their agent, whether you’re a seasoned agent or brand new.

Potentially Challenging Changes for Agents in Today’s Market

Changing market conditions can also bring new challenges. Here are a couple of potential hurdles for today’s agents:

• Housing inventory is still low. Chronic under-building, supply and labor shortages in construction, and aging homeowners opting to “age in place” (rather than downsizing as previous generations did) have created a severe, long-standing housing shortage. This can make it difficult to find a home that meets your buyer’s needs.

• The high cost of homeownership deters many buyers. Between the down payment, closing costs, moving expenses, and potential renovation costs, buying a home in today’s market requires a lot of upfront capital. And low down payments aren’t always an option because a lower down payment leads to higher monthly mortgage payments.

• You may go longer between commission checks. It may take a little longer to close a deal, which means a little extra time until payday. Now might be the time to revisit your financial plan to make sure you’re building in cash reserves for slower months than you’ve been used to. And for new agents, you’ll need a game plan for covering living expenses while building your business.

If you’re concerned about these challenges, keep reading! We have tips and tricks to help you overcome these temporary drawbacks later in this article.

How 2024’s Compensation Changes Affect Real Estate Agents in 2025

For those who are not familiar with the recent industry change in compensation based on the NAR settlement, here is a quick review:

Prior to August 2024, sellers were expected to pay real estate fees. They would pay their broker a negotiable commission (4-6% of the sale on average), and the broker would split the commission with the buyer’s representative(s). Following a class-action suit, claiming that this system restricted competition, the NAR negotiated a settlement, which included financial compensation as well as changes to real estate commissions.

Following the settlement, buyers are responsible for negotiating and paying fees to their agents. Sellers can still offer to help buyers with this cost (which is smart for sellers who want to reach a wider range of buyers), but this offer cannot be published on the MLS database of listings.

This is creating pros and cons for agents:

• Pro: You can offer flexible compensation terms. You’re no longer bound by the seller’s agreement with the listing agent. You can negotiate with your buyer, even offering creative terms like hourly rates or flat fees.

• Con: It has placed a greater financial burden on buyers. For agents, this could mean fewer qualified buyers in the market.

• Pro: Buyer’s agents get to show their worth. When all buyer’s agents were paid according to the listing agent’s fees, buyers assumed all buyer’s agents were more or less the same. Now they’re looking more closely at your qualifications and services.

• Con: Buyers don’t necessarily know which sellers are willing to offer a concession to cover this cost. Despite the goal of being more transparent, keeping the seller’s offer of a buyer’s agent concession out of the MLS makes the system more complex for buyers. This could create extra work for agents if buyers expect you to call around to find sellers willing to negotiate this fee.

• Pro: New agents can compete on price. Offering your services at a lower price can help you compete against seasoned agents. You can always increase your prices as you gain experience and improve your skills.

Candid Opinions on the Changing Market from Active Real Estate Agents

Hundreds of active real estate agents recently participated in a nationwide survey, designed to uncover honest thoughts and feelings about the state of the real estate market.

And, despite the slower housing market conditions of 2023 and 2024, the results of the survey were overwhelmingly positive! Here are the highlights.

1. Real Estate Agents in the Field Are Still Confident in the Industry

Experienced agents understand that real estate markets are cyclical. Those who have been in the industry for 20+ years have seen everything from the extreme low of the housing market collapse in 2008 to the extreme high of the pandemic-era market. This may be why 97% of agents and brokers surveyed report that they can create opportunities to make money in any market.

The ability to make money is a key factor in why agents choose to enter and stay in real estate. In fact, the earning potential of this career is the number one reason seasoned agents continue to pursue real estate!

As a real estate icon with over 30+ years of experience and founder of OJO Labs, Chris Heller confirms that “there is opportunity every time the market changes. Seize it.”

Active agents express confidence in the current state of the market:

• 58% of respondents feel positive about the current real estate market.

• 58% also report that the current market is getting better.

2. Successful Agents Are Finding New Ways to Stand Out

While most of the fair-weather agents have exited the industry, new agents are aware that they are now competing with the agents who have staying power.

So, what are agents doing to stand out in this competitive market? The survey provided some interesting insights into skills agents can hone to gain a competitive advantage:

Networking

A whopping 92% of agents report that network building is a crucial skill for surviving a down market. Having a strong network allows you to pull leads from a pool of people who already know, like, and trust you. This gives you an instant edge over every other agent in your market.

Digital Marketing

Over half of those surveyed ranked digital marketing as a top skill needed by real estate professionals. Given the number of buyers who conduct home searches online and the number of sellers who use a search engine to find a local real estate agent, it makes sense that digital marketing is considered such a necessary skill.

Social media, in particular, is seen as an essential digital marketing skill, with 47% of those surveyed agreeing that social media is a top skill for agents. Interestingly, seasoned agents with over five years of experience were 11% more likely to see the value in social media than new agents with less than five years under their belts.

Communication

Communication is critical for earning the trust of your prospective clients and facilitating smooth transactions. For this reason, half of the agents surveyed recommended that today’s agents focus on improving their communication skills.

Time Management

Between showings, prospecting, inspections, and closings, real estate agents manage a wide range of tasks every single day. This is why 45% of respondents agree that time management is an essential skill in today’s market.

Customer Service

Real estate is a service business. And today’s buyers and sellers have high expectations for the level of service they receive from their real estate agents. To stand out in a competitive market, 44% of respondents say that agents should focus on providing exceptional client services.

3. Job Satisfaction Remains High

Job satisfaction for real estate agents remains incredibly high as the housing market picks back up.

An impressive 88% of agents surveyed reported being satisfied (or very satisfied) with their careers in real estate.

There are several factors that make a career in real estate so satisfying, including:

• Flexibility. You choose how much you’ll work and when.

• Autonomy. You essentially get to be your own boss.

• Unlimited income potential. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean wage for American real estate agents is $54,300 per year. Not bad considering how many agents operate part-time. Agents who hustle full-time can make serious money. Those in the 90th percentile earn $119,590. In high-value markets like New York, agents in the 90th percentile earn $194,900!

• Ease of entry. You don’t need a college degree to get a real estate license; you simply need to complete your state-required real estate course(s).

5 Steps You Can Take To Start (or Grow) a Successful Real Estate Career in 2025

Whether you are just now thinking about starting your real estate journey or are hoping to build your new business, AceableAgent has five actionable steps you can take to find success.