Is there room for more?

At its highest point in history, membership levels at the National Association of Realtors (NAR) hit 1.37 million in October of 2006, and has declined by nearly 30 percent, yet in states like Arizona, the number of Realtors per capita is tremendously high. Although membership levels change seasonally, and they are currently stable, and even rising in some months recently, it is an interesting study to look at membership levels more locally.

According to NAR, the top 10 states with the most Realtors per capita are:

1. Arizona, where 1 in every 168 residents is a Realtor
2. Hawaii, where 1 in every 173 residents is a Realtor
3. Florida, where 1 in every 175 residents is a Realtor
4. D.C., where 1 in every 193 residents is a Realtor
5. Nevada, where 1 in every 200 residents is a Realtor
6. New Jersey, where 1 in every 201 residents is a Realtor
7. Connecticut, where 1 in every 229 residents is a Realtor
8. California, where 1 in every 241 residents is a Realtor
9. Colorado, where 1 in every 257 residents is a Realtor
10. Idaho, where 1 in every 267 residents is a Realtor

Each state has a unique reason for being so highly populated with Realtors, but the most common reason is opportunity. Some would argue that with numbers like these, educational standards and even apprenticeship should be required to protect consumers from the fly by night hobbyist Realtor, while others see this as a golden opportunity to recruit in lower population states. Imagine getting a postcard that says, “did you know that Pennsylvania has one of the lowest Realtor density counts? Competition is low, pay is high, call today!”

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Realtors care about the density levels because it speaks to the competitiveness of a given state – if the density is high, everyone in the state has a cousin, brother, friend, or pastor who is a Realtor, and procuring new business can be a challenge. Most of all, however, these density numbers are just plain interesting:

Full report

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