July 14, 2016
By LeAnn Bjerken, Spokane Journal
(Due to the length of this article, we have used an excerpt. To read the article in its entirety click here)
With home sales increasing here, so too is the number of active real estate agents.
Rob Higgins, executive officer of the Spokane Association of Realtors, says membership in the association has increased this year to about 1,700, up 6 percent from last year.
Higgins says he expects that number to continue to grow at a modest rate over the next few years, depending on the economy.
“We saw our peak membership in 2007 before the Recession, with about 2,250 members,” he says. “Our lowest membership was probably around 2012, with about 1,300 members.”
Susie Luby, office group administrator here with John L. Scott Real Estate and the association’s current president, agrees, saying, “When inventory is tight, sometimes it gets tough. It’s a seller’s market right now, so buyers need those more experienced agents who have the skills to negotiate and make the best offer, the one the seller will accept out of five or six put forth.”
The association also reports home sale prices are up, with the median home sales price in Spokane County for June reaching $196,975, up 6.5 percent from the year-earlier month, when the median price was $184,900.
“Overall, the number of homes being purchased and sold will always dictate the number of agents in the industry to some extent,” says Luby.
