Results are in: How PAR members feel about the association

Results of the latest Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® (PAR) member survey are in, and standard forms and government affairs remain the top reasons to join the association.

The survey is the fourth membership study conducted by Keystone Analytics® on behalf of the association.

The findings show that, in the two years following the last survey, there have been few drastic shifts in the list of PAR services members value most, or in the way PAR members exercise the benefits of their membership.

“Hearing from members on important issues is the only way we can stay on the right track and shape the future of this great association,” said Ron Croushore, PAR President.

Summary of key findings:

Standard forms continue to be the most important service that PAR provides. More than 90 percent of members indicated that forms are at least a somewhat important service to them, but the share of members saying it was “very important” rose from 56 percent in 2013 to 60 percent this year. The share of members saying that PAR’s providing of real estate news and information was a “very important” service to them dropped from 48 percent of respondents in 2013 to 40 percent in 2015.

Government affairs and political action remains the service that members feel PAR should place the most emphasis upon over the next few years. Twenty-four percent of members picked it as the issue PAR should focus on the most, a decline from 29 percent two years ago. News and information saw a drop from 17 percent of members to 11 percent, while professional development rose from 16 percent to 19 percent.

Niche markets such as cash transactions, investor purchases and new construction saw significant drops in shares of members who have completed such transactions. Cash transactions dropped from 76 percent to 61 percent, investor purchases plummeted from 74 percent to 50 percent, and new construction dipped from 42 percent to 33 percent. Second home sales dropped from 44 percent to 27 percent. This suggests that real estate professionals may be settling into more conventional real estate sales at a time when the housing market is in better shape and more sales volume reduces the necessity of working in secondary markets.

Demographics indicate that while the majority of members work exclusively in real estate, a slight shift towards part-time salespeople has emerged. In the 2009, 2011 and 2013 surveys, 82 percent of respondents indicated that they worked in real estate full time and 17 percent worked part time. For the current survey, the number of full-time agents dropped to 79 percent and part-time agents increased to 21 percent. In addition, twenty percent of members indicated that they work as part of a real estate team.

A $25 gift card was randomly awarded to one member completing the survey. Congratulations to Beverly Mandichak of Century 21 Strayer & Associates in Lilly, PA.

The results are based on an Internet survey of 897 members of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® conducted by Keystone Analytics® from July 8-22, 2015.