In a new report released today, WizeHire, an online employment recruiting service, identified a surprising list of hot real estate markets that are ripe for enterprising real estate firms to expand.
However, market shifts, competition for talent and pressure from Redfin, Zillow and Opendoor will challenge real estate teams in new ways, according to WizeHire’s inaugural Real Estate Hiring Opportunity Report.
“The red-hot real estate market of 2018 essentially made life easy for firms,” said Sid Upadhyay, president and co-founder of WizeHire. “We saw a big increase in solo agents starting their own firms, which led to more competition for talent this year, particularly in the popular cities like Seattle, Denver, Columbus and Phoenix that we’re used to seeing on lists of hot markets. What we’ve uncovered now is where agents should turn their attention to catch the next booming communities.”
WizeHire identified the top markets of opportunity for real estate agents by analyzing the 300 largest markets in the United States and assessing the supply and demand of real estate talent in those communities. To identify the best markets for recruiting, the company created its Opportunity Index based on the attractiveness of the underlying real estate market and the number of licensed real estate agents actively seeking new opportunities relative to the number of open real estate jobs in each market.
Top 10 Biggest Opportunity Markets
|
Rank |
City |
Opportunity Index |
Market Hotness |
Median Home Price |
||||
|
1 |
Yuba City, Calif. |
10.0 |
92.8 |
$317,700 |
||||
|
2 |
Pueblo, Colo. |
10.0 |
89.6 |
$252,900 |
||||
|
3 |
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas |
9.7 |
79.3 |
$183,008 |
||||
|
4 |
Salinas, Calif. |
9.4 |
74.9 |
$887,000 |
||||
|
5 |
Lafayette-West Lafayette, Ind. |
9.2 |
83.4 |
$195,425 |
||||
|
6 |
Tyler, Texas |
9.1 |
72.1 |
$278,250 |
||||
|
7 |
Modesto, Calif. |
8.2 |
90.5 |
$348,242 |
||||
|
8 |
Springfield, Mass. |
8.2 |
78.7 |
$239,000 |
||||
|
9 |
Amarillo, Texas |
8.1 |
67.2 |
$229,950 |
||||
|
10 |
Rockford, Ill. |
8.0 |
70.4 |
$129,950 |
||||
|
Sources: WizeHire, Realtor.com, Zillow |
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Where do challenges remain?
Our collective assumptions about various real estate markets from the past five years are probably incorrect. Home sales and prices in places like San Francisco and Seattle are compressing, while activity is rising in smaller, more affordable communities across the country. For real estate agents, this marks an inversion of conventional wisdom, especially as home ownership is expected to remain strong and the likelihood of a recession caused by a real estate downturn is low.
The strong economy and hot housing markets have prompted many agents to join teams or form their own. In 2018, 26% of agents were part of real estate teams, according to the National Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, 20% of agents have considered starting their own teams, according to a separate survey conducted by WizeHire. Those trends combined with the country’s record low unemployment rate mean agencies face intense competition for talent.
The other factor complicating matters is the rise of new technology players in the industry. Companies such as Opendoor, Zillow and Redfin are quickly gaining market share as alternatives to traditional real estate agents. However, these new entrants have so far focused mainly on large cities, leaving the smaller communities in the Opportunity Index ripe for agents to capitalize on.
“The takeaways here are clear,” said Upadhyay. “Agents in these underserved markets have a huge opportunity to capitalize, but they will have to act deliberately and quickly to attract a shrinking talent pool.”
The full Real Estate Hiring Opportunity Report, including the rankings of the top 50 markets included in the study, is available here: https://grow.wizehire.com/2019-opportunity-markets-real-estate-expansion.
About WizeHire
WizeHire’s mission is to help small business owners find and hire the right talent by transforming the recruiting process. By combining intuitive software with a nationwide on-demand recruiting team, we help small business leaders find and hire the right talent for the job. Over 4,000 small businesses trust WizeHire to help them build a great team. www.wizehire.com
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