SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio real-estate agents are getting new contracts to boost revenue, and are raising rates by 3% for a second year in a row.
The Real Estate Commission of Texas says real-equity agents across the state are reporting a 1.4% increase in sales and 1.3% increase on average.
But they say the increase in revenue is mainly driven by a boost in home prices.
It’s a result of a wave of sales in the market that began with the global financial crisis and a general boom in home construction.
Real-estate commissions also report a 9% increase over last year’s figures.
But agents say they’ve been hit hard by an influx of new home sales and higher interest rates.
Real estate commission President and CEO, Tom Raney, says agents have been hit particularly hard.
Raney says agents are reporting an average of $3,500 more in commissions, and that has been especially significant during the boom in sales.
“We are seeing agents working longer hours.
That is impacting the quality of their jobs and that is impacting our ability to meet our obligations to our customers,” he says.
Randy Boudreaux, an agent in San Antonio, says it’s been hard to keep up with the influx of sales.
He says he was making $20,000 to $30,000 a year before the recession, and he’s making more now.
“I feel like we’ve had to spend a lot of money to buy a house,” he said.
Boudreux has also been hit with an increase in the cost of living.
“The cost of renting is more than double what it was before the crisis,” he explained.
Ranes’ agents say the rising cost of housing has made it difficult for them to compete.
He estimates the cost to a new home agent of $500,000 or more is more of a burden than it is an expense.
Rays says his agency has lost about $2 million in sales since the recession.
