Google has taught us this simple correlation: What people search for tells us a lot about consumer sentiment.Since 70% of job searches begin on Google, it also tells a lot about the job market.Traffic for the popular search term “real estate jobs” was fairly stable until early August.Since then, it has dropped to what appears to be a new normal that is 25% lower than its previous range.
Why August? The job market typically lags consumer sentiment by 3 to 6 months, and the negative press started to affect the job seeker’s mindset.What does this mean in your search for talent? The large, organic influx of agents many brokers enjoyed over the last couple of years has probably hit its tipping point and has begun to normalize. It’s not that talented individuals will stop getting into real estate in the months and years ahead, but there will be less of them, and the competition to attract and hire them will increase.And those who increase focus on recruiting and execute consistently will win.It’s the same thing you’re telling your agents. The deals are still out there–you’ll just have to work smarter and harder to get them.