Issues That Are Threatening Brokerage Growth This Year

Real estate brokers are still planning to expand their companies despite a housing slowdown, with 62% saying recruiting new agents is their top business challenge this year, according to a survey by the Delta Media Group. But as the economy resets after pandemic-fueled highs, half of brokers also expect their profitability and transaction sides to fall in the next 12 months, the survey shows.

Brokers also were asked to identify the best move their brokerage made in 2022, and the most commonly cited activities were related to cutting costs and consolidating as well as agent recruitment and retention. Nearly 60% of brokers say they believe coaching and training new agents will increase in priority this year and that it will be critical to train agents who have never experienced a market shift before.

The top business challenges that real estate leaders say they face this year, according to the Delta survey, are:

1. Recruiting agents: 62%
2. Reduced profit margins: 48%
3. Recruiting top producers: 42%
4. Finding ways to reduce expenses: 41%
5. Agent adoption of your technology: 39%
6. Providing higher quality leads for agents: 38%
7. Retaining top producers: 36%
8. Cutting the right expenses: 36%
9. Increasing the speed of agent lead followup: 27%
10. Recruiting younger agents: 23%
11. Recruiting managers: 21%
12. Maximizing your tech stack: 18%
13. Startups trying to disrupt your business: 18%
14. Justifying brick and mortar offices: 18%
15. Recruiting and building new teams: 18%
16. Better tracking of lead sources and performance: 17%