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Agents' Income Is Holding. Their Margins Are Not.
The stable picture
By the usual measures, Realtors are weathering the market. Membership stands at about 1.44 million, down only slightly from 1.46 million a year earlier. Agents with 16 or more years in the business report median gross income of $88,500. Repeat business now makes up 28% of the typical agent's book, up from 20%.
Where the strain sits
NAR's 2026 Member Profile shows median agent business expenses rose 19%, from $8,010 to $9,530. Median gross income rose 1.9%, from $58,100 to $59,200. Costs are growing about 10 times faster than income.
Vehicle costs remain the largest expense. Technology adds to it, and the tools agents now treat as standard keep multiplying: MLS software, CRMs and e-signature platforms.
What team growth actually signals
Twenty-one percent of Realtors now work on a team. Teams reported median sales of $17.5 million, compared with $2.7 million for the typical individual agent. The typical team has about four members, though, so the comparison does not show that teams outperform.
The more useful reading is about cost. Agents are pooling overhead and splitting lead generation because their brokerages are not absorbing rising costs. In many cases, a team is an agent building the support system the broker never provided.
Where brokers can respond
For retention, the useful check is not a production report. It is a one-on-one cost conversation with each of the top 20% of producers, held before they work through the numbers on their own. Ask what they spend out of pocket on lead generation, marketing and tools. Ask where they feel they are operating solo under the brokerage's banner.
For recruitment, the same diagnosis moves the pitch from splits to overhead. An agent weighing a move also asks which expenses would disappear from their P&L. A specific cost the brokerage absorbs and a competitor does not, such as marketing spend, a transaction coordinator, a lead pipeline or admin support, gives that agent a concrete, provable reason to switch.
The Takeaway: Agents are paying for their stability out of their own pockets, and many are building the support their brokerages don’t provide.
Small Investors Now Dominate a Shrinking Investor Market
The mix changed more than the volume
Investors bought 224,000 homes in the first half of 2026. That was down 7% from a year earlier and the lowest first-half total since 2020. Small investors made 66.2% of those purchases, their largest share in 15 years. Investors' share of all U.S. home purchases barely moved, slipping 0.3 percentage points to 10.7%.
The retreat came from the top. Mega-investor purchases have fallen 70% from their 2021 peak, roughly double the 34.3% drop in non-investor sales over the same period. The ROAD to Housing Act, which became law in July, bars large institutional investors from buying more homes once they control more than 350 single-family houses. Build-to-rent developers say uncertainty over the bill paused capital markets while the long-term demand for rental housing did not diminish.
Where buyers feel it
Small investors buy cheaper homes. The median investor purchase was $295,000, 22.4% below the $380,000 market-wide median. In Missouri, Montana and Mississippi, small investors accounted for roughly 10% of all purchases, which puts them in direct competition with entry-level buyers.
Higher-cost West Coast metros show the opposite pattern. In Portland, Colorado Springs and Oxnard, investor activity was below average and investors were net sellers. Mega-investors kept modest shares in Texas (1.9% of purchases), Nevada (1.8%) and Georgia (1.3%).
More investor deals need financing
Cash made up 55.5% of investor purchases, down from about 68% in 2021 and 2022. A growing share of investor buyers now relies on mortgages in a market where affordability is the defining constraint. That brings more of them to lenders and mortgage brokers, often for the same price range first-time buyers are shopping.
The 350-home cap is now settled law rather than a pending threat. With that regulatory clarity, large investors may re-enter the market in the second half of 2026.
The Takeaway: Small investors now account for most investor purchases, keeping competition alive for lower-priced homes even as overall investor activity declines.
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Sellers Start on Google Months Before They Call an Agent
Where the visibility gap sits
Many agents build a strong social media presence and still miss sellers early. The cause is timing and intent. Homeowners often spend nine to 12 months weighing a sale. They begin by asking Google what their home is worth, whether local prices are rising or falling, and what similar homes sold for. Someone scrolling Instagram may have no plans to move. Someone searching for an appraisal is researching a transaction, even if it is months away. Google accounted for nearly 90% of global search-engine referral traffic in August 2025. An agent with a large following but a weak search presence is well known where sellers browse and absent where they ask questions.
Fix the profile before chasing AI
Start with your Google Business Profile: accurate business information, updated photos and a steady flow of reviews. The same information that builds credibility in traditional search also shapes how a business appears in newer AI-driven search. When you reply to a review, repeat the qualities the client praised, such as communication or responsiveness. That reinforces the praise and shows prospects what service to expect.
The usual shortfall is not a lack of satisfied clients but the lack of a system for asking them. Build review requests into the workflow, after closing or after a successful interaction, instead of relying on agents to remember. Ask buyers, landlords and tenants, not only sellers. A QR code at an open house collects feedback and shows where service can improve.
Stop discarding early leads
Search ads and online appraisal tools bring in owners who are not ready to list, and agents often write these off as poor-quality leads. In Harcourts' Google campaigns, about 60% of appraisal leads indicate a possible sale within six months. Dropping them wastes contacts the agency has already paid to attract.
Put these contacts in a database and keep them engaged. Send updates on comparable sales and local market changes without pushing for an appointment. Lead with value at the first contact as well: homeowners expect information such as comparable sales and average prices before they pick up the phone. Carrot offers seller-focused websites and home valuation pages to help capture these early inquiries (affiliate link).
Budget for duration
Google advertising needs ongoing management and enough cash flow to keep running, because a short campaign will not deliver consistent results. Run your prospecting on two tracks: work the sellers who are ready now while nurturing the ones who will be ready next year.
The Takeaway: Sellers often start choosing an agent months before they're ready to list. Being visible and helpful during that early research gives agents a head start on winning their business.
🧰 IN THE TOOLBOX
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Coffee & Contracts offers customizable social media posts, captions, marketing templates and other content designed for real estate agents. Resources can be adapted to local markets and individual branding.
Some links may be affiliate links, which means Market Minds may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
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TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
U.S. real estate is seeing pressure on both sides of the business, from the cost of working as an agent to competition for affordable homes. Realtor business expenses jumped 19% while median gross income rose just 1.9%, prompting agents to share costs through teams and giving brokers a reason to rethink the support they provide. Meanwhile, investors bought 7% fewer homes in the first half of 2026, but small investors accounted for a 15-year-high 66.2% of those purchases. Their focus on lower-priced properties keeps them competing with first-time buyers, even as larger investors pull back. For agents looking to win listings, the opportunity starts well before a homeowner is ready to sell. Sellers often research their options on Google for months, making an accurate business profile, consistent reviews and ongoing follow-up with early leads essential parts of a seller prospecting strategy.
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-Market Minds Team
The content of Market Minds is provided for informational purposes only and reflects personal opinions based on sources believed to be reliable. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or professional advice. Each reader is solely responsible for their own decisions.