Down housing market not scaring off realtors
PETE SKIBA Florida Weekly correspondent

When the real estate market tanked in 2005, so too did the number of licenses issued to sell real estate.

More than 1,300 fewer licenses were issued to real estate professionals in Lee and Collier counties during 2005 than the year before.

Although figures for Collier and Lee counties show a drop in real estate licenses issued during 2005, the number sprang back by more than 2,000 in 2006. By all reports the field continues to attract renewals and new applicants.

"I've been through these market cycles several times," said Robert Hardwick, a broker and the owner of Ameriflorida Real Estate School, Inc. in Fort Myers. "But I believe that the market is starting back up because the last couple months we have been getting more calls about getting new licenses. I'd say 50 to 75 percent of calls are now about new licenses. I think people see this as an opportunity to learn the business while it is slow. The market's future is good."

The only numbers from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation available for the individual counties reflected the years from 2004-2006.

"Our school has been doing well for 50 years," said Lori Rodgers, the president of Sarasota's Bert Rodgers Schools. "Applications to take our online courses for new licenses have dropped about 40 percent, but continuing education to renew licenses has gone up 20 percent."

Because students set their own pace to finish and register on various days, no enrollment figures were readily available, Rodgers said. It is the nature of ongoing online education.

The same remained true at the Academy of Real Estate Education Inc. and Ameriflorida.

"People are keeping up their licenses, they have a lot of time and energy invested," said Jane Peterson, president of the Academy of Real Estate Education. "We are running classes for new and renewing licenses. I do believe the business will turn around."

Statewide figures show that Florida issued 95,105 real estate licenses issued during the boom.

That was an average of 13,586 licenses issued every fiscal year. In contrast, the state issued an average of less than 3,000 for the most recent years counted.

Realtor stats

>> New and renewed real estate licenses issued statewide fiscal year by year staring with the turn of the century:

1999/2000	210,389
2000/2001	215,287
2001/2002	227,015
2002/2003	249,871
2003/2004	288,688
2004/2005	305,494
2005/2006	336,496
2006/2007	342,033
As of January 2008	338,389

 

Collier and Lee counties for available years:

2004
Collier	8,288
Lee	10,948
2005
Collier	7,456
Lee	10,382
2006
Collier	8,066
Lee	11,924

 

- Licensing information from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation