Women in Real Estate

There are few industries remaining today that have not seen a drastic change in the role that women play, and real estate and relocation are certainly not immune to these changes. Historically, women have been involved in real estate almost since its inception in 1794 and its establishment as a legitimate business in the 1840s. In real estate’s early days, women filled office and clerical roles, but by the 1880s, women were already moving into the roles of agents and brokers, though at a relatively slow rate.

When NAR was founded in 1908, the membership was 100% male. The Association’s founders declared NAR’s purpose was “to unite the real estate men of America” – but, the organization wasn’t restricted to just men, nor was it limited to the United States.  On the national level, there had never been gender or racial requirements for membership. Local boards decided who were qualified and who were not.

Women were in the minority in the National Association during its first few decades, but they started joining the organization soon after it was founded. Just like today, one of the primary requirements for national membership was acceptance as a member of a local real estate board. Many local boards, particularly older, well-established boards, and those in major cities, did explicitly ban women from membership in their bylaws, which effectively prevented them from becoming members of NAR. Newly established boards and those in suburbs and rural areas often didn’t have such restrictions, since they needed all the members they could get. Most of the local boards had dropped the gender restriction by the early 1950s.

Since women primarily were found in the ranks of sales agents, not brokers as much, and since NAR’s membership base was restricted to brokers, women remained in the minority for decades. NAR’s first member profile survey was conducted in 1949, which found that 98% of members were men.

In 1973, the situation rapidly began to change when NAR opened membership to sales agents, many of whom were women. At the end of 1973, NAR had 118,000 members, with women making up roughly 17%. By the end of 1975, NAR had ballooned to 435,500 members, and women accounted for nearly a third of total membership. Women surpassed men as a percentage of total membership three years later, in 1978.

Today, NAR membership continues to be predominately female. The 2020 NAR Member Profile reported that 65% of all REALTORS® were female. GCAR membership is also predominately female. The March 2022 membership report concluded that approximately 55 percent of GCAR members were female. The association is also led by a strong constituency of female staff with Laura Burns as the CEO since 2015. Burns is the first and only female CEO in GCAR history.

Source: Progress of Women in Real Estate, 50th Anniversary (Chicago, IL: Women’s Council of REALTORS®, 1998)

GCAR’s Female Presidents1994 – Victoria Gettings, RealtyUSA.com
1996 – Arlene Barbagelata, Arlene A. Barbagelata Real Estate
1998 – Laura Conrad, Purdy Realty
2001 – Doreen Ross, Doreen Ross Associates
2003 – Jacquelyn Witbeck, Coldwell Banker Prime Properties
2005 – Kathleen Hedrick, Prudential Manor Homes REALTORS
2008 – Marie Bettini, Albany Realty Group
2009 – Sandra Nardoci, Prudential Manor Homes, REALTORS
2010 – Laurene Curtin, Albany Realty Group
2012 – Nina Amadon, RealtyUSA.com
2015 – Cathy Griffin, Keller Williams, Capital District
2016 – Marie Bettini, Albany Realty Group
2018 – Susan Sommers, Better Homes and Gardens Tech Valley