Real Estate Industry Overview

Working as a real estate sales agent helping consumers buy and sell homes may be the best-known career among all real estate jobs, but there are plenty of other real estate job opportunities:

• Commercial real estate agents’ jobs involve selling whole buildings or leasing space in those buildings to businesses.
• Property manager careers focus on profitably managing income properties.
• Community association manager jobs center on running a single large condominium complex or homeowners’ association, or providing outsourced services to a group of smaller associations.
• Real estate developers purchase land and build houses, apartments or commercial buildings.
• Real estate financing jobs involve making loans to property purchasers.
• Many real estate law jobs are found at title companies that close real estate sales.

Real Estate Job Market

The real estate industry seemed to be improving in 2012 following three years of falling prices and tough times for those working in real estate careers. The continued health of the real estate market depends upon job growth and consumers’ ability to get mortgages.

On the commercial side of the market, the apartment rental sector recovered first, fueled by an increasing number of renters seeking housing. Commercial real estate vacancy rates are gradually improving, but they’re still in double digits and a lack of small-business funding is making it tough for anyone involved in commercial real estate work. Funding for larger buildings is more available.

Property manager jobs and community association manager jobs will grow only 6 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than most other occupations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says.

The real estate development market was improving in 2012 after several tough years, the National Association of Home Builders reports.

Real Estate Salaries

The National Association of Realtors predicts the median income for agents will rise to $46,600 in 2012 and to $52,700 in 2013, but that figure skews differently when you consider that 80 percent of total industry income goes to 20 percent of Realtors.

For example, in 2011, when real estate agents’ median income was $34,900, 17 percent of NAR members earned six-figure incomes.

According to the BLS, 2011 median salaries for other jobs in real estate were:

• Counter and rental clerks: $22,740
• Property managers and community association managers: $52,510
• Real estate brokers: $59,340