Southern California real estate agent hiring rate is half what it used to be – Orange County Register

Due to the sluggish housing market in Southern California, real estate-related hiring fell by nearly half in July.

According to my reliable spreadsheet, there were 920,700 people employed in the real estate industry in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties in July 2024. In two niches—project construction and building services—employment is at its highest since the Great Recession.

The Federal Reserve's high interest rates, designed to cool an overheated economy, have hit the real estate market hard. Although there were 4,500 new jobs in the local real estate sector compared to June, that's slow considering that an average of 8,700 new jobs have been created in July since 2010.

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Next, if you look at the past 12 months, you'll see that the number of real estate jobs in the five local boroughs has increased by 10,400. However, that's still below the hiring rate over the past 12 months, which has seen an average of 17,000 new workers added since the Great Recession. That's a 39% drop.

Additionally, July's real estate job count is 10,400 jobs below the post-2009 employment peak reached in July 2022, shortly after the Fed began raising interest rates. Note that many people who work in the real estate industry are self-employed and are not captured in traditional government job counts.

Compare this hiring pattern to other industries in Southern California. These employers employed 8.59 million workers—62,200 jobs lost in one month. Over 12 months, non-real estate jobs increased by 142,300, a 1.7% increase.

Don't underestimate the real estate industry's impact on the labor market. Its share of local employment was 9.7% in July 2024. Hiring in the industry represented 7% of all new local jobs for the year and 12% since 2010 and the end of the Great Recession.

Piece by piece

This is how important job niches in the real estate sector in Southern California have developed …

Specialist construction specialists: Contract workers numbered 317,400, up 2,700 from June and 12 months on year, or 0.9%. July saw an average gain of 4,440 jobs. This job niche is 2,300 below its post-Great Recession peak (October 2023).

Project construction: 154,700 people work in companies that build housing and highways – a high since 2009. That's 1,100 more than the previous month and 3,300 more than in the last twelve months, an increase of 2.2%. In July, there were an average of 1,480 new jobs.

Rental: 104,100 people work in various credit segments – unchanged for the month and 2,000 fewer than in the previous 12 months, a decline of 1.9%. In July, there were an average of 360 new jobs. That's 40,800 fewer than the post-Great Recession peak (December 2012).

Real estate services: 143,600 people processed transactions – an increase of 1,100 in the previous month and 1,500 in the last 12 months, an increase of 1.1%. In July, there were an average of 1,700 new jobs. That is 3,600 fewer than the post-Great Recession peak (December 2022).

Building materials: 62,200 equipment and materials sellers – 400 fewer in the month and over 12 months, a decline of 0.6%. An average of 120 jobs were lost in July. That's 5,400 fewer than the post-Great Recession peak (June 2021).

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Building services: 138,700 commercial real estate jobs – a post-Great Recession record – are unchanged for the month and up 5,300 over the past 12 months, or 4%. July saw an average job gain of 860.

Geographically

Here is the breakdown of real estate employment by metropolitan area…

Los Angeles County: 348,800 real estate jobs – up 1,500 a month and 4,200 over the 12 months, or 1.2% in a year. An average July 2015-19 saw 2,600 new jobs added. The number of jobs is 6,600 below the post-Great Recession peak (February 2020). Real estate accounts for 7.7% of all jobs in LA.

Orange County: 217,700 real estate jobs — up 800 from the previous month and 2,700 from the previous 12 months, a 1.3% increase in a year. An average July 2015-19 saw 1,900 new jobs added. The number of jobs is 12,700 below the post-Great Recession peak (August 2018). Real estate accounts for 12.8% of all jobs in OC.

Inland Empire: 184,500 jobs in the property sector – up 1,200 a month and 800 over the 12 months, or 0.4% in a year. An average July 2015-19 saw 1,300 new jobs added. The number of jobs is 1,600 below the post-Great Recession peak (October 2023). Property accounts for 10.9% of all jobs in Ireland.

San Diego County: 169,700 real estate jobs – a high since 2009 – up 1,000 from the previous month and 2,700 from the previous 12 months, a 1.6% increase in a year. During July 2015-2019, an average of 1,500 new jobs were added. Real estate accounts for 10.9% of all jobs in San Diego.

Jonathan Lansner is a business columnist for the Southern California News Group. Reach him at [email protected].