More real estate agents than ever are chasing fewer sale opportunities in New Hampshire – and it’s taking a financial and emotional toll on industry officials struggling to get by in today’s wild real estate market. 

According to both state and industry data, the number of real estate brokers and agents vying for business has steadily increased by 16 percent over the past five years in New Hampshire – even as the actual number of single-family homes sold has steadily declined by 17 percent over the same period. 

The total number of licensed brokers and agents increased by 4.4 percent last year alone, to a total of 12,160 people, according to the state Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. Yet, the number of single-family homes sold declined last year by 11 percent, to 14,597, according to data from the Warren Group, publisher of The Registry Review. The sale numbers aren’t as dire for condominiums over the past five years, but total condo sales have been off the past two years. 

The New Hampshire Association of Realtors data shows similar trends: more association members chasing a smaller number of homes and condos being sold. 

Record Hot Market Strains Agents 

Though home prices have indeed spiked over the past five years due to red-hot demand – particularly during last year’s pandemic rush for properties in the Granite State – the price increases haven’t been enough to offset the decline in the overall number of homes sold, according to brokerage and team leaders interviewed by The Registry Review. 

The net result: lower average income for many commission-paid agents, as well as more frustration, angst and disappointment, all requiring consoling and coaching by brokers and others trying to buck up sagging morale. 

“There’s just not enough market share for everyone,” said Adam Dow, an agent and team leader at Dow Realty Group/Keller Williams, who has 15 agents working with him in New Hampshire. “The trend of more Realtors [entering the business] is up and sales are down. And it’s getting worse.” 

And the emotional strain isn’t made any easier when some buyers angrily take it out on agents when they lose multiple-offer deals ultimately caused by tight supply and strong demand for homes. 

“People can get very upset and frustrated,” Scott Godzyk, a broker at Godzyk Real Estate in Manchester, said of buyers. “Then they take it out on agents and it’s hard.” 

It’s discouraging for some agents to work hard for clients – only to lose in multiple-offer transactions.  

“You go to one [home], you get beat out. You go to the next, you get beat out. And you go again, and you get beat out. It’s tough,” Godzyk said. 

Here are some of the things brokers and team leaders are seeing out in the field – and what they’re doing to help agents during challenging market times. 

Newbies Can Hurt Clients 

Obviously, there are many new agents entering the business, many of them drawn by the high home prices they hear and see in the news, figuring they can make big and easy commissions on those sales. Other “newbies” have entered the market because they’ve lost a job or want to start a new career. 

But they’re often not prepared to go up against experienced agents and brokers who understand the nuances of, say, how to win multiple-offer deals or how to network to nab the coveted business of representing the dwindling number of sellers. 

“A trained agent can beat out an inexperienced agent every time in this market,” said Nate Dickey, operating principal at Keller Williams Coastal, Lakes and Mountain Realty, the largest real estate firm in the state with 700 agents and 10 offices. 

And inexperienced agents can actually gum up the process – and even harm clients – if they’re not careful. Several brokers report receiving bids from new agents who didn’t provide enough information on offers – and lost deals for clients as a result. 

Due to the highly competitive nature of the business today, Janet Sylvester, the broker-owner of Great Island Realty, said her 35-agent firm only hires “seasoned” agents who can more easily survive and thrive in the current red-hot market. 

“They know how to do the bidding wars,” she said. “There are just a lot of inexperienced [agents] who don’t know how to deal with sellers.” 

More Coaching and Training, and More Again 

Whether agents are experienced or inexperienced, most brokers say it’s important to support them via constant coaching, training and analyzing the final results of deals. 

Dickey said his firm is fully committed to supporting agents to the max, making sure they have the right training and support staff, including “non-competitive brokers” who can teach agents how to gain clients and win deals.  

“I attribute our success to training and coaching,” he said, noting his firm has seen an increase in total sales and commissions in recent years. “We do a lot for our agents.”  

Dow said he’s always “looking for people ingrained in their communities,” and then coaching them on the nuances of selling and buying real estate.  

“You tell them that they really have to talk and listen to people and what they want,” he said. 

Godzyk, who oversees two agents, said he’ll often huddle with an agent after a deal to analyze what went right – or what went wrong – to try to improve his or her performance the next time. One goal for the firm: Don’t lose four bidding wars in a row, Godzyk said. 

Stratification and Support 

As Godzyk puts it about the levels of success between individual agents within firms: “Not everyone is equal.” 

Some agents are good in seller’s markets. Some are better in buyer’s markets. And a few are good in both.  

But there’s always a mix of agents with varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses, and some sort of income stratification is inevitable, particularly in pressure-cooker real estate markets like today, brokers and team leads said. 

“It’s always there, but it’s really amplified today,” said Dow. 

“We absolutely have agents who are struggling and others who are thriving,” agrees Dickey. 

The key, brokers say, is to focus on those who are struggling in today’s extraordinary sellers’ market and coach them how to network and meet potential sellers of homes while at the same time serving buyers to the best of their abilities. 

Today’s hyper-competitive real estate market can be taxing for everyone.  

“Even for seasoned agents, it’s difficult,” said Great Island’s Sylvester. “This market has created a lot of angst.” 

As a result, brokers say it’s important to regularly meet with agents to buck up their spirits if they’re down.  

“It’s part of our job as brokers to be sounding boards,” said Sylvester. “People need to let out their frustration and so you have to listen to them. We’re constantly talking things out at our firm.” 

Said Godzyk: “There’s a lot of reassuring going on these days.”