Relitix’s latest release of the Agent Movement Index (AMI) for June 2024 uncovers several unexpected and notable trends in the real estate agent landscape, offering crucial insights into industry dynamics.
Key highlights from June 2024 AMI:
- Rise in active agents: Despite industry expectations, the number of active real estate agents continues to climb. This increase, coupled with the relatively stable number of national closings, indicates a gradual decline in average agent productivity.
- Stabilization in agent movement: The movement of agents between brokerages appears to be stabilizing at levels akin to those observed prior to 2017. This suggests a return to a more predictable and less volatile agent pool, at least for the time being.
- Regional variations: Significant differences in agent movement between major markets highlight the impact of local competitive factors. Relitix’s team will conduct in-depth market analyses to further understand these trends.
Rob Keefe, Founder of Relitix, commented on these findings, stating, “The ongoing rise in active agents and the stabilization of agent movement are critical developments in our industry. It appears the market is adapting to current conditions, with local factors playing a significant role in agent decisions. Our upcoming market deep-dives will provide deeper insights into these regional variations.”
These findings build on previous AMI releases, which have consistently shown a landscape of evolving agent dynamics. For example, April 2024’s report indicated an unexpected increase in active agents and a continuing rise in agent movement, setting the stage for the current trends we observe. This month, the AMI recorded a trailing 12-month score of 99.2, a monthly score of 102.8, and a seasonally adjusted figure of 84.5 reflecting the ongoing adjustments in the market. All are lower than last month.
The AMI tracks agent movement dynamics using extensive national data from major MLS systems. It is released monthly and includes both raw monthly figures and seasonally adjusted data to provide a transparent view of underlying trends.
Trends in the relative movement of experienced real estate agents between brokerages are an important strategic consideration for brokerage and franchise leaders. The relative amount of movement fluctuates over time on a seasonal and long-term basis. To capture these trends and report them to the industry Relitix is proud to introduce its Agent Movement Index. The AMI is published monthly and features monthly and seasonally adjusted, and 12-trailing-month values. The index is calculated using national-level data from a large sample of the nation’s most prominent MLS systems.
About the agent movement index: The agent movement reflects the relative mobility of experienced agents between brokerages. The score is computed by estimating the number of agents who changed brokerages in a given month. To be counted the agent must be a member of one of the analyzed MLS’s and change to a substantially different office name at a different address. M&A-driven activity and reflags are excluded as are new agents and agents who leave real estate. Efforts are made to exclude out of market agents and those which are MLS system artifacts. The number of agents changing offices is divided by the number of agents active in the past 12 months in the analyzed market areas. This percentage is normalized to reflect a value of 100 at the level of movement in January 2016 (0.7313%). The seasonally adjusted value divides the monthly result by the average of the same month in prior years.
Analyzed MLS’s represent over 800,000 members and include: ACTRIS, ARMLS, BAREIS, BeachesMLS, BrightMLS, Canopy, Charleston Trident, CRMLS, GAMLS, HAR, LVAR, Metrolist, MLSListings, MLSNow, MLSPIN, MRED, Northstar, NTREIS, NWMLS, OneKey, RealComp, REColorado, SEF, Stellar, Triad, Triangle, and UtahRealEstate.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.
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