Along with its economic findings, NAR’s 2012 Member Profile also offered great insight into the demographics of today’s Realtors – including median age.

The average Realtor is 57 years old, and only 2 percent of the entire Realtor class is younger than 30.

Those were just two of the many interesting facts found in the National Association of Realtors’ 2012 Member Profile, a wide-ranging study of the businesses and demographics of Realtors. In our first story on the profile, we specifically looked at how Realtor incomes and transactions changed from 2011 to 2012, but now, for our second story, we’re looking at what the profile found regarding the characteristics of today’s Realtors.

Demographics, Compensation and Politics

The typical Realtor has 13 years of experience and works 40 hours a week, with 57 percent of them being women. Other key characteristics NAR uncovered include:

• Again, Realtors remain a predominantly older group, with the average age in 2012 being 57 years; only 2 percent of Realtors are under the age of 30, and only 4 percent are between 30 and 34.
• Split commissions maintained their dominance, with 68 percent of Realtors being compensated through that method; 18 percent received the entire commission. Also, 83 percent of Realtors worked as independent contractors, and the vast majority received no fringe benefits for their work.
• And finally, Realtors remain a politically active bunch! Ninety-four percent of Realtors participated in the last national election, and 86 percent their last local election.
• Also, Realtors are very well educated, with 50 percent holding at least a bachelor’s degree.

Business for Today’s Realtors

NAR’s report also featured unique insights into how Realtors run their businesses. Sixty-four percent of Realtors, for instance, have their own personal website; 56 percent use social networking sites; and most interestingly, 92 percent prefer using email to communicate with clients and customers – that’s a greater percentage than those who prefer using the phone!

Also worth noting: 14 percent of Realtors have a personal assistant, and only 6 percent chose real estate as their very first career, with 19 percent leap-frogging from business careers, 15 percent from sales/retail and 7 percent from education.