Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A Measure of the Local Real Estate Market in the Greater Boston Area

I've written about this before, but I can't help but compare the number of new Real Estate Salesperson licensees to the general public sentiment about the local real estate market.  Since the late fall of 2012 until now, the number of first time test takers of the Massachusetts Real Estate Salesperson exam has increased almost 25%.

   Obviously there has also been an increase in the number of students who are enrolling in the accredited real estate schools.   At Annex Real Estate School, where we like to keep our classes small to maintain the quality of the classes, we see an increasing demand for the pre-licensing courses.  We are now running daytime, evening and weekend classes. 

As long  as the demand continues, we expect to continue to offer the full schedule of classes.  It will be interesting to see what happens when the warm summer weather arrives.  June's busy social calendar and vacation plans usually slow down the activity.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Is Real Estate Brokerage Still A Good Career?

Over the past weeks I have been asked if real estate brokerage is still a viable career?  There was a large exodus of licensees right after the real estate 'bubble' burst.  Full timers became part timers and part timers said they were looking for a 'real job'.  Of course, real estate brokerage, working for buyers and/or sellers is a real job.  Who were these people who gave up their licenses or became inactive?  These were people who were not 'making it' in real estate.

Many real estate brokers and salesperson stayed in there.  If business is off 25%, then some one is making the 75%.

With interest rates still phenomenally low and inventory dropping down, it has becomes somewhat of a sellers market.  Perhaps that is why we still have a good attendance at our Massachusetts real estate salesperson classes.   And that is good.