Agent Movement Index™ suggests a bottoming out in agent movement

birdseye view of 6 real estate agents standing around a table

After a multi-year decline in agent movement between brokerages, Relitix’s Agent Movement Index suggests that this trend may be reversing. The index shows that, measured on a trailing 12-month basis, the amount of agent recruitment bottomed out in October of 2023 and has begun to increase.

Agent Movement Index Trailing 12 months December 2023

"After seeing less and less recruitment for nearly 30 months in a row, the tide may be turning,” said Relitix Founder and President Rob Keefe. “Keep in mind that we are still at a historically low level of movement and that the number of agents active in real estate has declined over the last year representing a smaller pool of recruitable agents to begin with. Nevertheless 2024 may well end up being a better recruiting year than was 2023.”

The monthly AMI value finished at 75.8 for November with a seasonally adjusted value of 85.8.

Agent Movement Index Monthly Graph December 2023
Agent Movement Index December 2023 Seasonally Adjusted Graph

Trends in the relative movement of experienced real estate agents between brokerages are an important strategic consideration for brokerage and franchise leaders. The relative amount of movement fluctuates over time on a seasonal and long-term basis. To capture these trends and report them to the industry Relitix is proud to introduce its Agent Movement Index™. The AMI is published monthly and features monthly and seasonally adjusted, and 12-trailing-month values. The index is calculated using national-level data from a large sample of the nation’s most prominent MLS systems.

About the Agent Movement Index

The agent movement reflects the relative mobility of experienced agents between brokerages. The score is computed by estimating the number of agents who changed brokerages in a given month. To be counted the agent must be a member of one of the analyzed MLS’s and change to a substantially different office name at a different address. M&A-driven activity and reflags are excluded as are new agents and agents who leave real estate. Efforts are made to exclude out of market agents and those which are MLS system artifacts. The number of agents changing offices is divided by the number of agents active in the past 12 months in the analyzed market areas. This percentage is normalized to reflect a value of 100 at the level of movement in January 2016 (0.7313%). The seasonally adjusted value divides the monthly result by the average of the same month in prior years.

Analyzed MLS’s represent over 800,000 members and include: ACTRIS, ARMLS, BAREIS, BeachesMLS, BrightMLS, Canopy, Charleston Trident, CRMLS, GAMLS, GlobalMLS, HAR, LVAR, Metrolist, MLSListings, MLSNow, MLSPIN, MRED, Northstar, NTREIS, NWMLS, OneKey, RealComp, REColorado, SEF, Stellar, Triad, Triangle, and UtahRealEstate.

About Relitix

Relitix provides data-driven decision support for brokerage leaders across the United States. A pioneer in applying AI and data science technology in brokerage management, Relitix profiles over 1.2 million agents in more than 130 markets nationwide to help brokers recruit, coach, and retain agents. Advanced data tools allow unprecedented visibility in agents, offices, and markets for strategic planning and M&A support. Learn more at www.relitix.com.