Top 10 best cities for real estate agents

Plus, this is where home prices are falling

July 02, 2024

Happy 4th of July!

Since we are taking the rest of the week off to rest and recharge, we want to wish you an early Happy Fourth of July. We hope you take some time to refresh and renew yourselves too.

While you do, we encourage you to watch or listen to the latest episode of our podcast Rise Above the Ranks. We started a new series of “Under 30 Round Tables” to get to know the next generation of up-and-coming realtors and other real estate professionals.

In this latest episode, we have a fun and enlightening conversation with rockstar agents Kris Everett, Alexa Kort, Shana Tavangarian, and Emila Tavangarian. We summarized some of the key takeaways below in today’s Foundation Plans, but we invite you to listen to the whole thing. We think you’ll love it!

And now, on with today’s edition of The Blueprint!

– James and David

New home sales down

Source: Unsplash

In May, new single-family-home sales dropped 11.3% month-over-month from 698,000 down to 619,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest update. Here are other key data points from May:

The median price of new homes sold was $417,400, down 0.9% YOY
481,000 new homes are for sale in the country, a supply of 9.3 months at the current sales rate, up from 8.1 months in April.
The number of completed new homes available for sale is at the highest level since 2009.
There were 175% more completed new homes for sale in May 2024 than at the peak of the pandemic housing boom in May 2022

Our take

Compared to this time last year, buyers have a tremendous amount of leverage. There are a lot of unsold new homes on the market, and builders are doing whatever they can to sell these homes. Many of them are offering incentives like rate buydowns. Nearly 25% of home builders are cutting their asking prices, leading to a 6% average price deduction. Simply put, buyers can snag some great deals right now.

Top cities where home prices are falling

Source: Unsplash

Among America’s 50 biggest cities, 20 have seen year-over-year home price declines since last June, according to Realtor.com. Surprisingly, Miami is the metro with the largest decline at 11.2%. Here is the Top 10:

Our take

This is some more much-needed good news for buyers. While mortgage rates are still stubbornly high and average home prices are going up, there are some desirable markets seeing some price declines. Each market is different, which is why it’s so key to have local data in addition to national data.

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The best metros for agents

Seattle: https://tinyurl.com/3as8vz6k

In Clever Real Estate’s study of the top 50 cities for agents, 7 of the top 15 are in the Midwest. The study was based on a weighted average of 15 factors such as affordability, annual salary, number of agents per 100K residents, and annual home sales per full-time agent.

Here are the 10 best cities for real estate agents in 2024 (along with the average listing agent commission and median agent income):

Our take

This report is terrific, especially for new agents who are trying to figure out where they might want to settle, and also for seasoned agents looking to broaden their reach. It shows us which markets are ripe for expansion. If you are looking to make a new game plan for your business next year, this report is a great place to start.

The news that just missed the cut

Source: Unsplash

The California Association of Realtors responds to criticism of its buyer agreement
7 top countries to invest in real estate
The best real estate CRM for every budget in 2024
How the top 1% of agents made 15% of all home sales in the past 12 months
The real-estate fund industry is bleeding billions

Foundation Plans

Advice from James and David to win the day

As we said up top, we had a fantastic discussion with some up-and-coming young agents in the latest episode of Rise Above the Ranks. It was a wide-ranging conversation, so we can’t cover everything, but here are some of the highlights of what we gleaned from the roundtable.

Connect emotionally with clients – While numbers and data are vital, it’s equally important to relate emotionally to your clients. Like doctors are expected to have a “bedside manner,” agents must recognize that there is a therapeutic side to brokerage. Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions our clients will ever make, and they will go through a rollercoaster of emotions. We need to guide, comfort, and reassure them.

Relationships with other agents matter – Clients come and go, but agents remain. They are the repeat business partners we see over and over again. Those relationships can have big rewards–pocket listings, referrals, and help when your clients are in multiple counter situations. It’s so important to nurture these relationships and treat other agents with respect and care.

Patience and consistency are key – Real estate isn’t like trading stocks or options where you can see big money quickly. The deal cycle is longer. Agents have to temper their expectations. It’s important to be patient, and also, consistent. The most successful agents put in energy every single day, whether it leads somewhere or not. That consistency is what yields success.

We loved this episode. We could have chatted for another hour! We hope you will check it out and share it with fellow agents, especially those who are new to the business. We think you’ll be both inspired and learn a lot. Watch and listen here!