The Edge - The Ontario Real Estate Association
Today's REALTOR is younger, better educated

A younger, better educated REALTOR has emerged in the past three years, according to member research conducted for OREA late last fall. The percentage of Ontario REALTORS who have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree has grown to 36 from 31 per cent in 2001, and the average age has decreased two years to 49.

Fully 25 per cent of OREA's membership today entered the business in the past three years, adding to the impression of a revitalized profession. A similar survey in 2001 found just 10 per cent of REALTORS had been newly registered in the previous three years.

This profile matches the trend of dramatically increased enrolment in the pre-registration courses since 2001. More than two times as many people start Phase One today as in 2001. Almost 14,000 people enrolled in Phase One in 2004, but fewer than half of them- about 6,500- graduated Phase Three.

"Real estate is a career that is more complex and requires more education and a greater commitment than many people first realize," commented OREA President Laura Leyser.

Members recognize that today's tougher educational standards and other improvements in the profession have contributed to enhancing the public's perception of REALTORS. In OREA's research, focus group participants pointed out that because it is now much harder to get into real estate, the quality of REALTORS has improved. "Being a REALTOR has become a profession," one participant said.

In addition to updating the profile of Ontario REALTORS, the member research was conducted to track attitudes towards OREA products and services and determine ways to improve them.

When reminded that OREA dues are only $80 per year, almost 60 per cent of members rated the value of their membership as good or very good. That's a 15 point increase from the previous survey.

Members feel that the most important services from OREA are standard forms and clauses, registration and continuing education, and representing REALTORS interests with the provincial government.

Fully 78 per cent of members regularly read the OREA newsletter the EDGE, giving it a usefulness rating of 75 per cent. By comparison, the privately published REM newspaper is regularly read by 46 per cent with a usefulness score of 63 per cent.