Introduction
St. Louis REALTORS® surveyed its REALTOR® members to gather basic member profile information to empower St. Louis REALTORS® with valuable insights. These insights allow the Association to make data-driven decisions to enhance member engagement, inform strategic planning, and drive meaningful improvements in their services and advocacy efforts.
St. Louis REALTORS® staff developed the survey questions and collected and analyzed the results found in this summary report.
Acknowledgment
St. Louis REALTORS® thanks the over 600 REALTOR® members who participated in the survey.
Methodology
The 26-question survey was administered online between June 16 and July 13, 2023. 633 REALTOR® members completed surveys, representing 7.8% of the 8,086 survey invitations sent. After accounting for undeliverable questionnaires, the survey had an adjusted response rate of 8.03%. The results are statistically significant, with a 95% confidence interval of +/- 3.74%.
Throughout this report, the primary measure of central tendency is the median, which corresponds to the midpoint in the distribution of responses for a specific question. In simpler terms, it is the value at which half of the responses lie above and the other half below.
Key Findings
This section presents a concise overview of the most significant insights drawn from the member profile survey. The findings summarized below serve as a valuable tool to guide the Association in further developing strategies and initiatives that resonate with our members and reinforce the value of membership. The findings demonstrate the significance of our various member segments' unique needs and preferences. They will help St. Louis REALTORS® continue to develop a more tailored and enriching experience for all members. Business Characteristics: Sixty-three percent of all respondents reported that their primary function is as a sales agent, 14.5% are broker-owners (with selling), and 10.6 % are Associate Brokers who hold a broker license but do not function as a manager for the firm they are affiliated. Respondents most often reported that their primary real estate specialty is residential brokerage at 84%. Additionally, almost 78% of respondents are certain they will remain active as real estate professionals for the next two years.
Typical REALTOR®: The typical St. Louis REALTOR® is a white female (60.5%) functioning as a sales associate (63%), affiliated with a franchise (44.9%), working 33.5 hours per week, earning $75,150 annually, having been a member of the Association for 12.1 years and owns her primary residence.
Business Activity: The typical respondent reportedly works 33.5 hours per week. 2023 the median transactions were 10.5, down from 11.88 in 2022. Seventy-one percent of respondents agreed that lack of inventory remains the most important factor limiting potential clients from making a purchase; following this is the difficulty in finding the right property (27.3%) and the expectation that mortgage rates might come down (17.5%). Regarding property management, nearly 67 % of respondents indicated that in 2022, they were not engaged in a property management role; also noted is that the typical property manager managed 1 to 5 properties in 2022.
Electronic Forms: Forty-six percent of respondents reported using formsRus as an electronic forms solution, while 30% use Dotloop. Respondents also indicated using various other electronic forms solutions, which include Skyslope (18.2%), Lone Wolf (9.6%), and Brokermint (less than 1%). Nineteen percent of respondents indicated that they use an electronic forms solution other than the provided list of options, while 4.1% of respondents do not use an electronic forms solution.
Office and Firm Affiliation: Fifty-five percent of respondents are affiliated with a franchise, while 44.9% are affiliated with an independent brokerage. Only 8.5% of respondents reported that "employee" best represents their brokerage affiliation, while 86.9% indicated that their brokerage affiliation would best be represented as "independent contractor." As reported by respondents, the following graph depicts the size of brokerage firms in which respondents are affiliated with:
Income: The median gross income of all respondents is $75,146, an increase from $68,038 in 2022. Forty-seven percent of respondents indicated that real estate is their household's primary income source.
Insurance: Respondents were asked to indicate the type(s) of insurance that they currently have; 82.7% of respondents reported having health insurance; 80.8% have errors and omissions, also known as professional liability insurance; 60.4% have dental insurance; 53.9% have life insurance; 48.2 have vision care, and 17.9% have disability insurance.
Membership: In 2022, the median respondent had been a member of St. Louis REALTORS® for 12.1 years; in comparison, the median years of membership for respondents in 2023 is 11.9 years. Furthermore, 46.3% of respondents have been a member for less than 9 years, an increase from 44.9% in 2022.
Demographic Characteristics: Female respondents declined from 64.3% in 2022 to 60.5% in 2023, while male respondents increased from 33.7 in 2022 to 38.6% in 2023. The median age of respondents is 57.0 years, an increase from 56.8 years of age in 2022. Almost 12% of respondents indicated that either themselves or their spouse/partner are active military or a veteran. Respondents were asked to indicate their ethnic background; the responses are broken down as follows:
We want to note that when analyzing this question, we cannot explain the unusually high percentage of individuals (12.01) who reported: "Ethnicity not listed." This discrepancy is significant because, in 2022, only 1.8% of respondents said: "Ethnicity not listed."
Homeownership: Most respondents (87.5 %) own their primary residence, while 12.5% do not. Most respondents (86.1%) do not own a vacation home, whereas 11.9% of respondents reportedly own one vacation home, 1.4% own two vacation homes, and less than 1 % own three or more. Thirty-six percent of respondents own at least one property other than their primary residence or vacation home(s). Less than 11% of respondents own commercial properties, while nearly 90% of respondents reported that they do not own any commercial property.
View the 2023 Member Profile Survey results