Real estate agents are quitting the industry or taking on second jobs as the U.S. housing market slump stretches into its fourth year. The slump has hit real-estate agents, mortgage-loan officers, and other industries tied to home sales as elevated mortgage rates and high home prices continue to weigh on demand. According to an analysis by First American Financial, last year’s existing-home sales pace, measured as a share of households, was the worst since 1982. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported 1.4 million members in April, down from a high of 1.6 million in October 2022. Meanwhile, only 71 percent of agents surveyed by NAR in 2025 said real estate was their sole profession, the lowest proportion recorded since the survey began tracking the data in 2005. Many agents have struggled to survive in the tougher market. Kim Taylor, who launched a brokerage with her husband in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2023, said the downturn devastated the business, which she closed this spring. “We just became a bleeding artery,” Taylor said. “The last 11 months have been the hardest of my career.”
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