Newcomers entering the real estate industry accounted for three-fourths of a large increase in membership of the National Association of Realtors? during last year, according to a survey released at NAR?s annual Realtor Conference & Expo.

NAR Chief Economist David Lereah said NAR membership growth parallels the historic rise in home sales.

?NAR has added 102,000 members in the last year for a total of 962,000?a record that reflects the historic level of home sales while other sectors of the economy experienced weakness,? he said. ?The survey shows 8 percent of NAR members are newcomers to the industry, which accounts for 77,000 of our new members. An additional 25,000 practitioners were previously licensed but decided to join the Realtor family.?

The 2003 National Association of Realtors Member Profile, based on a survey of more than 104,000 members in July, generated 6,734 usable responses representing a response rate of 6.6%. The following findings are of particular interest:

? 5% of NAR members, about 48,000, have been in the business for one to two years. The typical member has been in the business for 13 years, with a median of eight years for sales agents and 17 years for brokers.

? For the first time, a majority of real estate brokers are women?52 %?while women continue to dominate full-time sales agents at 54%.

? The typical member is a 51-year-old married female with a gross personal income of $52,200, who works 40 hours a week and often communicates with clients by e-mail.

? Typical NAR members are agents who are affiliated with an independently owned, non-franchised firm.

? Typical members complete 13 transaction sides per year, equivalent to 6.5 full sales transactions.

? The gross personal income of sales agents rose 15% between 2000 and 2002 to a median of $39,300, while the gross income of brokers declined 11% to $65,300.

? NAR members who are racial or ethnic minorities have grown by 2 percentage points since 2001.

? 15% conduct some business in a language other than English.

? Four-out-of-five Realtors frequently use e-mail, 50% use a digital camera and 70% have a home office. 46% of members have a personal Web site, up from 43% in 2001.

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