Ask Eli: How Many Agents Worked in Arlington Last Year?

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based realtor and Arlington resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: How many different real estate agents do business in Arlington in a typical year?

Answer: There were 2,770 real estate transactions in Arlington in 2020 (incredibly close to the 2,782 transactions in 2019!), totaling over $2.16 billion in total sales volume (up from $1.96 billion in 2019).

I think most people would assume a few hundred different real estate agents worked on those 2,770 transactions, but in fact, there were 2,223 different agents part of those sales (remember, most transactions have two agents involved). In 2019, 2,017 different agents transacted in Arlington so the numbers are very consistent.

I looked over the 2020 Arlington transaction data and pulled out some interesting highlights:

• 61.4% of the agents who handled an Arlington real estate transaction in 2020 work on just one sale in Arlington. (They may have done more business outside of Arlington.)
• Just 3% of agents handled 10 or more transactions in Arlington and 0.8% handled 20 or more transactions.
• 1,452 different agents represented buyers in Arlington, and 19 of them (1.3%) worked with 10 or more buyers in Arlington.
• 1,316 different agents represented sellers in Arlington and 29 of them (2.2%) worked with 10 or more sellers in Arlington.
• Of the 858 agents who handled two or more transactions in Arlington, they averaged 4.7 transactions each.
• Only two agents with 5-plus transactions averaged $2 million or more per transaction: Mark McFadden and Jennifer Thornett.
• Keri Shull and her team once again led Arlington in transactions and sales volume, by a wide margin, participating in roughly 8.4% of the transactions in Arlington and handling about 4% of the total sales volume in Arlington. Keri, of course, has a great team of agents and staff supporting this activity. In an article I wrote in 2019, I explained how different agents/teams are structured.

Most studies suggest that consumers are less concerned with measures like sales volume and are more focused on the strength of communication and trustworthiness of the agent they’re working with, but market expertise and experience are still important factors for most people.

While some may see the low barrier to entry to real estate licensing and a high volume of agents as a negative, it also means that you have a lot of choices as a consumer and, with some effort, can make sure that you’re working with somebody who provides the type service you’re looking for.

If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column or to set-up an in-person meeting to discuss local Real Estate, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at www.EliResidential.com. Call me directly at 703-539-2529.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with RLAH Real Estate, 4040 N Fairfax Dr #10C Arlington VA 22203. 703-390-9460.