Real estate employers — a category that includes brokerages — added 6,100 jobs in April, a rate that matched national monthly jobs growth.

The real estate industry posted yet another strong month of hiring in April as national jobs numbers came in higher than expected.

Real estate employers — a category including brokerages, among other firms in the space — added 6,100 jobs last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

This 0.3 percent rate of growth matched that of the nation as a whole, where employers added 428,000 nonfarm jobs to their payrolls in the month of April.

The strong job market has continued to benefit demand for housing as well, as homebuyers have found themselves on increasingly solid financial footing, according to Mike Fratantoni, chief economist and senior vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“Although mortgage rates have risen sharply, and home prices have continued to rise at a rapid pace, we expect that many potential homebuyers will continue to be in the market given their strong financial position,” Fratantoni said in a statement. 

As the economy has continued to recover from the pandemic, it’s seen one of the strongest periods of job growth in the last half-century, Fratantoni added.

The report also contained good news for employees in homebuilding and other areas of residential construction. These companies added 3,500 seasonally adjusted jobs in April — a 0.4 percent increase from the previous month.

Residential trade contractor employment stayed roughly the same from month to month, with only 300 jobs added on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Even as residential construction companies added jobs, the annual wage growth of those workers slowed. Year-over-year hourly earnings for nonsupervisory employees in construction dropped from 6.1 percent in March to 5.3 percent in April.

One way to attract and retain workers in construction is to pay more, First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said in a statement.

“Recall that construction quits rate surged in March to the highest rate since 2005,” Kushi said in the statement. “We need more hammers at work to build more homes, so higher quits is not good news for this labor-intensive industry.”

In the mortgage side of the industry, payroll news hasn’t been rosy. Prominent companies have laid off workers in recent weeks as mortgage rates rose and the demand for loans came down off mid-pandemic highs.

But the jobs report held hope for these recently laid-off mortgage employees as well, Fratantoni said.

“While employment in mortgage lending may be declining due to the sharp drop in refinance volume, overall employment in the financial sector is growing, which may well provide opportunities to shift employees from mortgage to other sectors within finance,” Fratantoni said.

Email Daniel Houston

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
Only 3 days left to register for Inman Connect Las Vegas before prices go up! Don't miss the premier event for real estate pros.Register Now ×
Limited Time Offer: Get 1 year of Inman Select for $199SUBSCRIBE×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×