5 facts about women in real estate you may not know

Women have been part of the real estate industry since houses first began to be traded between buyers and sellers, but they weren’t always treated equally.

When the National Association of REALTORS® was founded in 1908, 100% of its members were male. Thirty years later, the Women’s Council of REALTORS® was created as part of NAR to support the interests of female real estate agents. By 1978, a majority of NAR’s members were women.

While that history of women in real estate may be familiar to you, there are a few facts that you may not know about female power in this important industry.

Five facts about women in real estate

For nearly 50 years, females have dominated the field as residential real estate agents, but today they’re growing their influence in leadership ranks in associations, brokerages and Multiple Listings Service or MLS firms. For instance:

1. In 2023, 62% of REALTORS®  were women, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2023 Member Profile. Among NAR’s members with a sales associate license, 64% are women. Real estate’s female-dominated industry is likely to stay that way, too, since 67% of new agents with two years or less of experience are women.
2. Women have also started to outpace men as brokers at real estate offices, especially in the past 20 years. The number of female NAR brokers has increased by 20% over the past two decades, and 41% of brokers with more than 20 years of experience are women.
3. Women lead many of the most well-known real estate brands in the U.S., including:

• Kamini Rangappan Lane, CEO and president of Coldwell Banker Realty, which includes more than 52,000 agents.
• Merri Jo Cowen, CEO of Stellar MLS, Florida's largest MLS, with over 85,000 customers in Florida and Puerto Rico.
• Denee Evans, CEO of Council of Multiple Listing Services, the largest organization representing MLS and their members nationwide.
• Sue Yannacone, CEO and president of Anywhere Brands, the largest group of real estate brokerage brands in the world, including Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Corcoran Group.
• Helen Hanna Casey, CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the nation's largest independent real estate company.
• Pamela Liebman, CEO and president of the Corcoran Group, a franchise with over 4,000 agents.
• Christy Budnick, CEO of Berkshire Hathway HomeServices, the nation’s fifth largest real estate franchise.

4. While American women who work full time are paid an average of 83.7 percent as much as men, according to the Department of Labor, the residential real estate industry offers an exception. Generally, women earn the same as men in residential real estate because of commission structures. However, on the commercial side of real estate, women typically make 30% less in salary and bonuses compared to their male counterparts.
5. The stereotype that men are more tech-savvy than women doesn’t play out in the real estate industry. Women are more likely to embrace the newest tech, like AI, then men, according to a new Delta Media study. The study found that more female leaders of real estate brokerages (83%) utilize AI in their businesses than male leaders (70.4%).

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