WASHINGTON, DC–Females make up 63% of NAR's membership and those who work exclusively in residential have a median gross income from real estate of $46,700, compared to $54,600 for men. Women tend to be younger in age and more likely to work part-time. When it comes to residential business activity, women had a median of eight sales transactions, compared to seven for men. Asian and Pacific Islander members working exclusively in residential real estate have the highest median gross annual income of all ethnic groups at $56,800, followed by White and Caucasian members at $54,200, Hispanic and Latino members at $41,700, and Black and African American at $23,000. Those who work in dual specialties, both residential and commercial, tend to have higher gross median incomes at $89,300.

That is from the National Association of Realtors new research report, Choosing a Career in Real Estate: A Perspective on Gender, Race and Ethnicity and as the paragraph suggests it is chock-full of demographic and financial data — about residential real estate brokers.

The only hint of information about the commercial real estate population comes at the end, which equally speaks volumes.

Simply put, NAR did not have enough data from the CRE community to slice and dice responses in the way that it was able to for residential real estate, Jessica Lautz, director of Research tells GlobeSt.com. “We wanted to do a deep dive for CRE but the data was too thin; there were not enough respondents.” NAR fleshed out its report by looking at respondents who practice both commercial and residential. As for why CRE respondents were so shy, Lautz says the industry is over-surveyed. “There is definitely survey fatigue among the members,” she says.

This is a unfortunate because a more comprehensive data set could tell us whether CRE is making any progress with diversity. Lautz thinks it is based on other studies. But the scant data from the NAR survey show an industry that is predominately white and male.

Fifteen percent of males work exclusively in commercial real estate, compared to only 4% of females, according to NAR figures. Twelve percent of White and Caucasian members work only in commercial real estate, compared to 3% or less for all other ethnic groups. The study responses suggests this is due to a higher level of education among white men and their connections to the industry, Lautz says.

The picture is quite different on the residential side. With a membership favoring women, “real estate is clearly gender diverse,” she says. The survey also noted that real estate is a very open industry to enter, with nearly 70% of realtors self-initiating their careers — and 75% of Black and African American members self-initiated their career in real estate more than any other ethnic group.

“A career in real estate offers a work environment and diversity of opportunity that attracts all types of individuals, and the report's findings are a reflection of that,” says NAR president William E. Brown, a second-generation Realtor from Alamo, California and founder of Investment Properties, in a prepared statement.

Another finding from the report suggests that crossover from residential to commercial can be more difficult than expected even as some residential realtors expressed interest in the commercial side.

The survey asked about important skills to possess to be successful in real estate. People skills (86%), self-motivation (84%) and negotiation skills (73%) ranked as the most important skills in residential real estate, while negotiation skills (69%), problem solving skills (63%) and analytical reasoning (62%) were viewed as the top skills for commercial real estate professionals.

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Does CRE Have A Diversity Problem?

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