How many real estate agents are there in Portland, Oregon?
Ever wondered how many real estate agents there are in the fine city of Portland, Oregon?
When you type “real estate agent Portland” into Google, you get over 9 million results. Although it may seem like there are 9 million real estate agents’ faces popping out from Portland’s bus stops, billboards and newspapers, in a metro area of only 2 million, there really can’t be that many.
So how many, then? The short answer is – not as interesting as the long answer, so here it goes.
One way to figure out how many real estate agents there are in Portland is to figure out how many licenses there are. Real estate license? Yes. To be a real estate agent in Portland, one must first take classes and pass an exam to obtain an official license from the state of Oregon. This says you are allowed to act as an agent on the behalf of clients buying and selling real estate, and guide them through the process.
When it comes to counting the number of licensed real estate agents in Portland, it’s not as easy as it seems. The Oregon Real Estate Agency doesn’t keep track of where a person hangs their license and conducts business, they just have a list of names and addresses of license holders. Technically, someone living outside the Portland metro area could work as a real estate agent in Portland, as long as they have that Oregon license. However, if we look at that list, we do learn that there are just over 5,800 individuals with active real estate licenses in Washington and Multnomah counties (the two major counties that Portland inhabits).
A better way to know how many real estate agents consider themselves Portland agents is to ask the Realtors. A REALTOR® is a member of a professional trade association governed by the Oregon Association of Realtors (OAR). We’ll cover the OAR in a future post, as well as its local incarnations, Portland Metro Association of Realtors and East Metro Association of Realtors.
Drumroll, please: There are around 6,400 members of the Portland Metro Association of Realtors, and 500 in the East Metro Association of Realtors. Roughly 10% of these members are “affiliate” members – those who are in real estate-related industries and services but are not real estate licensed (title companies, inspectors, banks, etc.) That brings the total number to 6,800 Realtors in Portland.
With so many agents in the Portland Metro area, it’s a competitive environment for those Realtors who want to succeed. Although mobile technologies and fewer job options are making it easier and more tempting for new agents to enter this field, successful agents must do more than show properties and accept listings.
In July 2014 there were only 1,127 closed sales in Portland proper and only 2,457 closed sales from Hillsboro to Oregon City to Gresham. So for the 6,400 Realtors working the Portland metro area, each one would get less than a half of a sale for the month of July! So a good Portland real estate agent really has to differentiate themselves in order to be successful.
Give me a call and you’ll find out why, out of all 6,800 real estate agents in Portland, I’m one of the best. Top 1% listing agent in Portland, Top 5% of all real estate agents in the United States. I do more to sell your home, for less. See my listing package here.