The question of how many homes a Realtor sells annually is complex. The term “Realtor” refers only to a licensed real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This professional group includes individuals with varying levels of commitment, from dedicated full-time professionals to those who maintain a license for occasional personal transactions. Due to this high variance in activity, calculating a true average transaction volume is difficult. Industry analysis often relies on the median to represent the typical agent’s production.
The National Average and Median Sales Volume
The most recent data from the NAR Member Profile shows the typical agent completes 10 residential transaction sides per year. A “transaction side” represents either the buying or the selling representation for a single property, meaning a completed home sale involves two sides. The typical Realtor is involved in approximately five to ten home sales annually, depending on whether they work with both buyers and sellers. This median figure corresponds to a median sales volume of $2.5 million. The median is the midpoint of all agents, where half complete more transactions and half complete fewer. The overall average number of sales is statistically higher than the median because it is skewed by the small percentage of agents who close hundreds of transactions each year.
Why the Overall Average Can Be Misleading
The low median number of sales reflects a profession heavily diluted by participants who are not engaged in full-time practice. Many licensed agents maintain their credentials primarily to handle sales for friends and family or execute a single personal transaction. These agents, who may complete zero to two sales per year, pull the overall average down considerably.
The average is also affected by the churn of agents who are brand new to the profession and have yet to close their first sale. Agents with two years or less of experience, for example, had a median gross income of only $8,100, indicating low sales volume. The inclusion of these non-full-time and new members lowers both the average and the median figures.
How Experience Level Affects Sales Productivity
An agent’s tenure in the profession directly correlates with increased sales productivity. New agents with two years of experience or less typically report no repeat business and a very low median income. This initial period requires time to build market knowledge and a professional network.
Agents with 16 years or more of experience see a significant jump in their median gross income, often over ten times higher than their newest counterparts. This higher income reflects increased sales volume, largely driven by repeat and referral business. Experienced agents report that a median of 42% of their total business comes from past clients and referrals, indicating the long-term benefit of a well-established sphere of influence.
The Role of Market Conditions and Geography
External factors like local housing inventory, price points, and general economic health influence an agent’s annual transaction count. In a market where the median home price is high, an agent can achieve the national median sales volume of $2.5 million by closing only a few high-value properties. Conversely, an agent in a lower-priced market must complete a higher number of transactions to achieve the same dollar volume.
Market conditions, such as low inventory or high mortgage rates, also constrain the number of available sales. An agent’s specialization plays a role; agents focused on high-volume transactions, such as starter homes, may see a higher number of units sold than a luxury specialist who closes one or two multimillion-dollar sales. Geographic areas with rapid population growth and high turnover offer more opportunities for transactions than stable, rural regions.
Benchmarking Top Performers
To understand the production level of a full-time agent, it is necessary to look beyond the national median to the top percentiles of the industry. The highest-producing agents operate at a level far exceeding the typical member, often managing teams to handle high transaction volume. The top 1% of agents account for a disproportionately large share of total U.S. home sales, demonstrating significant market concentration among elite producers.
The most exclusive rankings of top individual agents, representing the top 0.065% nationally, show an average of over 200 transaction sides and sales volume exceeding $200 million annually. Many local real estate boards recognize agents as “Top Producers” when they reach a minimum benchmark, such as $10 million in sales volume or 23 units sold per year. These benchmarks represent the realistic production of an agent who has made real estate their full-time profession.