NEW YORK CITY—The latest SelectLeaders Network Hiring Trends Survey charts an industry brimming with optimism, statistically speaking. Seventy-three percent expect the current economy to create new jobs this year, while 89% expect 2014 hiring levels to be met or exceeded in 2015. “The real estate market comes back last,” commented one respondent. “That time is upon us.” Closer to home, 46% of survey respondents said they expect their companies to increase hiring this year, while 69% expect their own total compensation to rise.

That being said, SelectLeaders, which powers GlobeSt.com's online job board, uses the phrase “frustrated optimism” to sum up the feelings of many individual respondents. “Although both new construction and jobs will continue to grow in 2015, I can see companies not hiring as quickly or filling their vacancies completely,” in the words of one respondent. “I can see increased workloads for existing employees and wages only increasing slightly.”

Although one respondent predicted that increases in technology-sector and manufacturing jobs would lead to a rise in real estate values, another voiced more tempered expectations.  “The economy will experience growth and new job creations will increase but only modestly,” according to this respondent.

"I believe that real estate/housing in particular will experience little to no growth as first-time homebuyers continue to struggle with credit/underwriting requirements," the respondent adds. "Competition for mid-career professionals like myself will continue to increase as more and more complete schooling and specialized training but continue to compete for fewer mid-career, higher-paying jobs.”

SelectLeaders says that more than half, or 56%, of respondents received a year-end bonus entering '14 and 53% saw a base salary increase last year. “The perception for last year and the reality for nearly half of the respondents was that wages were flat or decreased, but the findings show that over half of employers used bonuses to increase total compensation without committing to salary increases,” according to SelectLeaders.

This past year saw a “a paradigm shift in the basis for compensation,” according to SelectLeaders. Increasingly, it was based on increased revenue production, whereas traditionally it has been tied to experience, location and individual performance. “Growth in revenue is demanded, with growth in head count constrained,” as one respondent put it. Another reported, “Every employee must contribute to the bottom line.”

With the talent market becoming a “seller's market” this year, many respondents echoed the sentiment of one industry professional: “Firms will be required to offer more robust and competitive compensation packages to new employees in order to attract the best talent.” Similarly, SelectLeaders says that many respondents would agree with one commenter's observation that this year, “wages should rise, the quit rate/churn rate should increase and there will be more competition for talent.”

Each December, SelectLeaders conducts an annual industry-wide survey, in cooperation with the 12 real estate professional associations whose online career centers are powered by SelectLeaders. The 988 respondents to this year's survey ran the gamut of real estate professionals: candidates, employers, principals, top-line managers and human resources executives. Results of the survey are available by clicking here. Click here to visit the GlobeSt.com Career Center powered by SelectLeaders Network.

* Editor's note: LoPinto is also global sector head for real estate at Korn/Ferry International.