Tens of thousands of American real estate agents are scrambling for supplemental income as a prolongedhousing market freezestrips commissions bare, pushing some of the country's 1.4 million licensed Realtors into classrooms, retail floors, and substitute teaching rosters just to stay afloat.
The numbers tell a punishing story. A Redfin executive told attendees at the Inman Connect conference that approximately 71% of agents registered on Multiple Listing Services (MLS) closed zero home sales in 2024, a figure that includes part-time and referral-only licence holders but which nonetheless exposes how thin deal-flow has become across the industry.
Combined with a landmark antitrust settlement, persistent mortgage rates, and the slowest sales pace in years, agents are rethinking whether a real estate licence alone can still pay the bills.
TheNational Association of Realtors (NAR)reported its total membership fell to 1.4 million in 2025, down from an all-time peak of 1.6 million recorded in October 2022. That is roughly 200,000 fewer active members in under three years. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yunwarned as far back as early 2024that 'further declines in membership over the next 24 months' should be expected, citing a lag of 18 to 24 months between market deterioration and eventual agent exit.
TheConsumer Federation of America (CFA)had already sounded the alarm in January 2024, releasing the third instalment of its 'Surfeit of Real Estate Agents' study series. The report found that nearly half of all agents sold either one or zero homes in 2023, describing the industry as characterised by 'lax hiring' and inadequate mentorship. The CFA warned of a fundamental mismatch: too many licence holders, too few transactions to sustain them.
Official NAR data for active, dues-paying members draws a more nuanced picture, with the2025 NAR Member Profileshowing the median professional closed 10 transactions in 2024 and only 5% of residential members reported zero deals. The divergence between that figure and the MLS-wide statistic reflects the breadth of licence holders who are technically registered but functionally inactive, a distinction that matters when agents are being urged to justify their continued membership fees.
Agents were already navigating a frozen market when theSitzer/Burnett antitrust settlementreshaped compensation structures across the industry. In March 2024, NAR agreed to pay £329 million ($418 million) to settle the class-action lawsuit brought by home sellers who alleged that NAR and major brokerages had conspired to inflate buyer-agent commissions. The settlement, which came into effect on 17 August 2024, banned seller agents from pre-setting buyer-agent compensation on MLS platforms and required all buyer representation to be formalised through written agreements.
The downstream effect on agent income has been measurable.Redfin's 2025 Industry Surveyof 500 agents from across the industry found that 54.4% had observed increased commission negotiation since the settlement changes took effect. Around 34.8% reported commissions had declined modestly in their area, and 51.2% believed they would continue falling over the next 12 months. For agents who already closed fewer deals than usual, shrinking per-transaction fees compounded an already precarious income position.
TheEighth Circuit Court of Appealsbegan hearing oral arguments on an appeal of the settlement in January 2026, meaning the legal landscape remains in flux. Objectors to the settlement, including home sellers and a law professor, argued the district court erred in approving it.
The practice changes for written buyer agreements and MLS compensation disclosures, however, remain in force throughout the appeal process.
Source: International Business Times UK
