Spokane has 13% Fewer Real Estate Agents

About 300 Spokane real estate agents have quit the business due to a huge decline in home sales.

clipped from www.spokanejournal.com Real estate agent ranksdwindle here Trend in people leaving realty business follows big slump in home sales By Mike McLean Of the Journal of Business Changes in the number of real estate agents here typically lag behind trends in the number of annual home sales. Following a steep decline in home sales here, the ranks of real estate agents also are thinning out. Rob Higgins, executive officer of the Spokane Association of Realtors, estimates that membership in the association has fallen to 1,950 today, a 13 percent drop from about 2,250 at the end of 2007, which was the peak year for membership. Higgins says he expects that number to continue to drop at least through April, when annual membership fees come due. The decline in the association's membership is in line with a statewide drop in the number of licensed real estate agents, says Christine Anthony, spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of Licensing.