The number of home sales per real estate agent is at its lowest level in over a decade

• The number of home sales per agent has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, Apollo's Torsten Slok said.
• High mortgage rates and home prices have pushed buyers off the market.

Not as many people are buying homes in an expensive housing market. And it's slowing things down for real estate agents.

The number of home sales per agent has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, a note from Apollo Management's Torsten Slok stated.

"With many homeowners locked into sub-4% mortgage rates, existing home sales are at the lowest level since 2010," Sløk noted.

Mortgage rates have fallen from their recent peaks of 8% back in October last year, but they're still historically high. They're even ticking back up as the outlook on the Fed's rate cuts gets pushed farther out. Interest rates on the 30-year home loan are at 6.77%, up from 6.64% last week.

Home prices are also too high for many homebuyers. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index shows prices in many markets around the country are still sitting at all-time highs.

There's also a geographic nuance to this trend, with fewer real estate agents per 1,000 jobs in states like California and New York as people flock to southern states. The agent-to-jobs ratio is higher in places like Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.

The cost of living and even the climate have helped warp the market. A Redfin report found that high air-quality risks have exacerbated out-migration from the West, especially from cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. Still, the report noted that the high cost of living is a primary driver of that exodus. Homes in high-risk areas cost 65% more.

The expensive living costs are also seen pushing residents out of New York. While San Francisco saw an outflow of 110,518 residents in 2021-2022, New York City saw an outflow of 619,175, Redfin data shows.