Even with high prices in much of the country, the real-estate market has been laid low, mainly by higher interest rates. This has been filtering through to the job market, in both construction and sales activity. The latter sector involves many players but especially the broker/agents. It’s hard to get a national read on this situation–the Realtor association is no longer a readily available source, and licensing data is kept state by state. But, through a FOIL (Freedom of Information) request, I got the most recent six years from New York State–a good proxy because it includes busy markets (the NYC metro, suburbs and exurbs) and slower ones upstate. The results are below. There’s a steady drop in broker licenses and a similar falloff in sales agents since the peak of pandemic transactions. Other, coincident factors are at work in the realty trade, so this isn’t entirely a cyclical story. Commercial can be a different story from residential. And the top sellers are, of course, the last to feel a pinch. But New York is a good window on a business in overall consolidation. –Oct. 20, 2026
ACTIVE LICENSES
Year RE Broker RE Salesperson
2020 54,093 78,006
2021 53,407 81,367
2022 51,632 82,609
2023 49,048 80,992
2024 47,358 79,245
2025 45,254 77,757
Current 44,064 76,968
Source: NYS Department of State
