The internet may have entered more aspects of a real estate transaction over the past decade, but consumers haven’t abandoned their desire for a real estate professional’s assistance, according to Steve Murray, president of the consulting firm Real Trends, who has been tracking for 40 years how real estate agents conduct their jobs. In fact, consumers are willing to pay even more for real estate agents’ services. The average real estate commission paid to real estate agents has risen slightly since 2005, according to Murray.
Real estate agent jobs have stayed firm, while the internet has disrupted other industries, like travel agents and stock brokers.
“There’s not a shred of evidence that the internet is having an impact,” Murray says.
The internet may have changed how agents work—like in automating several tasks–but it hasn’t taken their jobs, he adds. The number of real estate professionals has increased 60 percent in the past two decades, Murray notes.
It’s the opposite of what so many predicted.
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