Most brokerage leaders in February still expected to be better-staffed this time next year, the Intel Index found. But that optimism was weakening even before NAR’s $418M settlement Friday.
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Even before brokerage leaders began to wrap their heads around last week’s National Association of Realtors settlement, they were already losing faith that their plans to bolster their headcounts over the next year would come to fruition.
These weakening tailwinds for brokerage hiring make up one of the key February findings of the Inman Intel Index, a survey that most recently sought the insights of 811 real estate professionals, including 166 people in leadership roles at brokerages or associations.
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Most of these leaders still held a positive outlook about the developments that the market will hold for their businesses in the year to come.
But as mortgage rates remained high and Federal Reserve officials made clear they were prepared to hold rates higher for longer than once hoped, much of the industry has begun to moderate its hopefulness for the year to come.
It’s an outlook — still optimistic, but weakening — that shows up in nearly every aspect of the industry tracked in February by the Intel Index, including expectations for client pipelines.
And it’s one that may be tested further in the aftermath of the NAR settlement, which Intel will be tracking in the weeks and months ahead.
Dive in deeper in the full report below.
Hopes for hiring wane
Heading into 2024, the story was clear: Many broker-owners and agents believed the market had already bottomed out for their business and was poised for a small-to-moderate rebound, the Intel Index found.
For brokerages, the staffing that supports…