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The pool of active residential real estate agents operating in Los Angeles has dropped by hundreds in the last year as the market normalizes, according to a report from AgentStory obtained by The Real Deal.
AgentStory, a company that tracks real estate agents and their transactions, found that the number of active real estate agents in L.A. decreased by 27 percent year over year from 4,800 agents during the fourth quarter of 2021 to 3,500 agents in the fourth quarter of 2022.
From Q3 2022 to Q4 2022 alone, the number of active agents in L.A. declined from 4,203 to 3,500 active agents.
AgentStory defines “active” agents as those with a listing or co-listing, or for buyer agents, those who participate in a residential transaction during the quarter. Deals tend to increase during the second and third quarter of each year, as the market hits its seasonal peak and agents get busier.
The study did not account for all agents working the streets and trying to make their way in the pricey SoCal market, but only those who have closed deals, an AgentStory representative named Shmuel Tennenhaus clarified to The Real Deal. The data also did not include agents with pending, but not yet closed, transactions.
The findings follow a year in which residential real estate agent counts soared, in 2021, as homebuyers scrambled to take advantage of low interest rates and find larger homes in which to shelter. Active agent counts in LA hit a peak of 5,800 during Q2 2021. From that period to the latest data from Q4 2022 represents a 40 percent decline in active agents.
Data in the new year may provide more positive results, however, as the National Association of Realtors reported last week that pending home sales rose month over month for the first time since May 2022, suggesting that an increase in closed transactions may also be arriving in the near future.
