More Ontarians are giving up their dreams of seeing their face vandalized on a park bench.
Driving the news: The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board — Canada’s largest real estate board — is on track for its first year-over-year drop in membership numbers in decades. If the current number of just over 73,000 stands, it would mark a ~3% dip from 2023’s peak.
- If a random person you went to middle school with started sending you real estate market updates during the pandemic, know they weren’t alone.
- The job boomed as people in disrupted sectors turned to real estate as a side hustle, especially in Toronto, where a staggering one in 59 workers were realtors in 2021.
Yes, but: The tide is now turning. With subdued home sales compared to record highs seen a few years ago, house prices slowly coming down, and increased membership fees, it’s not worth it for part-time realtors to hang on to a licence — especially since they don’t sell a lot.
Big picture: The COO of RE/MAX Hallmark Steve Tabrizi told Storeys that the vast majority of realtors conduct fewer than five transactions a year, and it’s only getting tougher.—QH