Daily Real Estate News  |  November 13, 2007  |   Survey: Commercial Practitioners Make Big Money
A survey of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORSŪ commercial members showed that more than half earned $100,000 or more in 2006.

The findings revealed that 18 percent earned $250,000 or more; 33 percent earned between $100,000 and $250,000; and 24 percent earned between $50,000 and $100,000.

Members of the REALTORSŪ Commercial Alliance were surveyed in the summer of 2007, and the findings were discussed at the 2007 NAR Conference & Expo, which takes place in Las Vegas Nov. 13-16.

Land sales was the top commercial specialty among respondents. The top six specialties cited by respondents as their primary specialty were:

1. Land sales (19 percent)
2. Office leasing (11 percent)
3. Multifamily building sales (11 percent)
4. Retail building sales (10 percent).
5. Office building sales (8 percent)
6. Industrial building sales (8 percent)

Commercial Practitioners Belong to Many Groups

Forty-three percent of REALTORSŪ Commercial Alliance members said they belonged to a commercial affiliate of NAR. Many survey respondents also hold membership in other real estate specialty organizations. Among respondents:

• 31 percent were members of the International Council of Shopping Centers
• 10 percent were members of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks
• 9 percent were members of the Appraisal Institute
• 9 percent were members of the Building Owners and Managers Association

The commercial segment continues to be dominated by men and by practitioners working in independent companies. Seventy-four percent of respondents were male and 79 percent said their company was not affiliated with a large national or regional brand.

The REALTORSŪ Commercial Alliance is an NAR division dedicated to serving the needs of REALTORSŪ practicing in the commercial arena. There are currently 75,000 RCA members. The membership survey was presented at a commercial research meeting held as part of the REALTORSŪ Conference & Expo.

Commercial Real Estate Index to Launch

Also at the meeting, NAR announced it would be teaming up with the Society of Industrial and Office, REALTORSŪ, on the analysis of SIOR’s Commercial Real Estate Index. The index is a measure of SIOR members’ assessment of market conditions.

NAR will continue to release its own quarterly Commercial Leading Indicator, a measure that forecasts commercial market activity on the basis of job growth, manufacturing, purchasing power, and other quantitative factors.

— REALTORŪ Magazine Online

The 2007 REALTORSŪ Conference & Expo is Nov. 13-16 at the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The meeting, with some 30,000 attendees, features more than 200 conference sessions and 744 exhibitors.