Enrollment in BC real estate licensing program reflects hot market
Posted October 8, 2015 11:11 pm.
Last Updated October 9, 2015 7:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With homes in the Lower Mainland being sold for millions of dollars, it seems a lot of people want to get into the real estate business.
Enrollment in the province’s licensing program has jumped and the number of real estate agents practicing in the province has never been higher.
For 2014-2015, the number of people signed up for UBC’s real estate course, the only one offered in BC, is up 34 per cent from the year before.
And according to the Real Estate Council of BC, a record number 22,000 British Columbians are licenced real estate agents. That’s up 40 percent from ten years ago.
But not everyone who takes the one-year course goes on to make a living in real estate. Only 70 percent of students pass the final exam.
Dave Moore, Director of Licensing Education at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, admits the licensing test isn’t easy.
“It is a relatively difficult course. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”
Besides having a large math component, students have to master aspects of the law.
“There is actually more legal material than anything else. The business is about contracts concerning the purchase and sale of a piece of property.”
He points out not everyone takes the real estate course in order to take up a career in that field. He says given the current pre-occupation with watching real estate prices, many simply want to better understand the industry.
