Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
A new report on agent recruiting suggests brokerages with an emphasis on technology and which have capped revenue programs are having the most success attracting agents.
The report is a product of real estate recruiting company Recruiting Insight and CRM maker BoldTrail. Among other things, it found that 13 percent of “business operator” agents — or, agents the report defines as not being low or non-producers — moved brokerages in 2024. The report concludes that this level of movement “highlights a competitive landscape and the need for robust talent strategies.”
The report goes on to note that tech-enabled brokerages have managed to pull ahead with top-producing agents, attracting “nearly double the median volume” compared to their non-techie rivals. Meanwhile, a statement on the report describes brokerages that cap the amount of revenue they collect from agents as “magnets” that enjoy “the highest inflow of agents.”
However, such brokerages “also experienced notable outflow, suggesting onboarding, culture, and support gaps need to be addressed.”
The report additionally suggests that brokerages are losing money as agents jump from company to company.
“The study found that 129,056 transactions in 2024 were completed by 26,363 agents who switched brokerages,” the statement notes. “The average moving agent produced 4.83 transactions, while top producers completed well over 100 deals, meaning the financial impact of churn is massive.”
The report comes as attention on agent recruiting in real estate remains intense. In March, for example, Inman reported on its own recent Intel survey that showed 75 percent of agents had fielded a recruiting attempt in the last 60 days. On top of that, more than 11 percent of respondents to the survey said they were contacted sometime in 2024 — meaning a total of nearly 90 percent of survey respondents had received a recruiting call sometime in the last year.
Inman Intel’s findings also indicated that agents have not only received recent recruiting calls, but that such calls come in frequently; 37 percent of respondents indicated that they field recruiting attempts at least once a month and another 16 percent receive one inquiry per week.
The report came a year after a series of Inman Intel reports that also suggested agents face an intense and extremely active recruiting landscape. One takeaway from these reports was that years of higher mortgage rates slowed sales and gradually shifted brokers’ focus away from raw head counts and onto agents with a proven track record of closing deals in hard times.
The new report on recruiting further sheds light on recruiting trends, suggesting among other things that, in fact, agent moves are concentrated around a few brands. Specifically, the report states that 75 brands or offices — which is only 2 percent of the national total — accounted for 60 percent of the agents gained in 2024, as well as 57 percent of the agents lost.
Of the agents who moved, “nearly 18 percent” jumped within the same brand. The report concludes that “this emphasizes the importance of flexible internal policies for multi-office brokerages and franchises to accommodate agent needs and retain talent.”
Additionally, the report notes that the median agent making a move has a sales volume of $3 million and did 10 transactions last year.
The report is based on data from MLSs in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, South and West regions, and it covers all of 2024.
The report ultimately concludes with suggestions for brokers, including that things such as leadership and differentiation matter. The statement further suggests brokers refine their recruitment messaging and analyze their market niche.
“Agent movement is more fluid than ever,” the statement notes, “and firms must rethink their recruiting, retention, and agent support strategies to stay ahead.”
