Renewal Wrap-up

The 2008 renewal period wrapped up on September 30, 2008, and thanks to the diligence of industry members and the hard work of RECA licensing staff, the process was carried out smoothly and efficiently.

Last year, RECA introduced a dedicated e-mail address, accessible only to brokers, for questions about the licensing process. This e-mail address continues to be a tremendous success, and as a result of limiting access to the address, RECA staff could answer broker questions about licensing and renewals quicker and more efficiently.

On August 31, 2008, there were 15,790 industry members in Alberta, with 12,475 in real estate, 2,496 in the mortgage industry and 819 in real estate appraisal. Real estate had 1,134 brokerages and there were 351 mortgage brokerages.

On October 31, 2008, a month after the renewal deadline, there were 14,937 industry members in Alberta, with 11,839 in real estate, 2,364 in mortgage, and 734 in real estate appraisal. There were 1,076 real estate brokerages and 340 mortgage brokerages.

In the month of October, there were 13 new real estate brokerages, 328 new real estate associates, 11 new mortgage brokerages and 125 new mortgage associates. The true number of industry members that did not renew by September 30 should be adjusted by the number of new industry members in October.

Though there was a slight decrease in the overall number of industry members between August and October of this year, it follows a similar pattern from the past few years. It is not uncommon for the number of industry members to decrease slightly right at renewal time and when membership fees are due to real estate boards in the spring. The number of real estate brokerages has consistently decreased at renewal each year. RECA attributes the decrease to the retirement of brokers, smaller brokerages and mergers of existing brokerages.

However, if current market activity levels continue or decreases further, RECA expects to see a decline in the number of new industry members for each of the industries it regulates.

 

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