Real Estate Analyst: Career and Salary Facts
Explore the career requirements for real estate analysts. Get the facts about education requirements, job duties, and salary information to determine if this is the right career for you.
What Does a Real Estate Analyst Do?
Real estate analysts manage the real estate investments of organizations that have significant property holdings. To do so, they closely monitor changes in the market and create models to predict upcoming situations based on market trends. Using the data they gather, they prepare reports for company executives about when to buy and sell properties. They also design and implement ways to minimize real estate investment risks, in order to guarantee the stability of the client's overall investment portfolio.
The following chart gives you an overview about entering this field.
<table border="1"><tr><td><b>Degree Required</b></td><td>Bachelor's degree; master's degree required by some employers</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Education Field of Study</b></td><td>Real estate, business administration, economics, finance</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Key Responsibilities</b></td><td> Research and analyze data on sales, acquisitions, trends, and occupancy; develop administrative materials; create financial models and research reports</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Job Growth (2020-2030)</b></td><td>6% <i>(for all financial and investment analysts, financial risk specialists, and financial specialists)</i>*</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Median Salary (2021)</b></td><td>$61,301 <i>(for real estate analysts)</i>**</td></tr>
</table><p><i>Sources: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, **PayScale.com</i>
</p><h3 id="section---WhatIsARealEstateAnalyst">What Is a Real Estate Analyst?</h3><p>Real estate analysts research and evaluate conditions in the commercial and/or residential real estate industry. Industry conditions you may research and analyze include data on local, regional, national and/or international sales, acquisitions, trends and occupancy. You may also develop associated administrative materials, such as sales packages, financial models and research reports.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatEducationDoINeed">What Education Do I Need?</h3><p>While some positions require a master's degree, while others may require only a bachelor's degree. Employers typically look for candidates that have degrees in finance, business, business administration or real estate.
</p><p>Your bachelor's degree curriculum in real estate may include coursework that teaches you the fundamentals of the real estate industry, such as real estate law, valuation, market analysis and appraisals. You may also receive training in business principles, such as economics, accounting, finance and marketing. Other topics that you may cover include commercial leasing, title searching and capital markets.
</p><p>Graduate studies in real estate may provide advanced training on land economics, property analysis and real estate development evaluation. You may also learn about construction management and international real estate. If your master's degree is in finance or business, your curriculum may include coursework on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, public administration and human resources. Degree programs in this field are available through campus-based and online course delivery formats.
</p><p>If you choose not to earn a graduate degree, other options include participating in professional training programs offered through companies or trade organizations. Corporate sponsored programs may last up to three years and have preferred qualifications that include a bachelor's degree and work experience through internships, extra-curricular activities or jobs. Also, learning how to use financial modeling applications, such as Argus, as well as word processing and spreadsheet applications will be beneficial, because they are commonly used by real estate analysts.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatIsMyJobOutlook">What Is My Job Outlook?</h3><p>You could work for mortgage companies, consulting groups, government agencies and investment firms. Your salary may greatly vary with your geographic location, your experience and your education. As of December 2021, <i>PayScale.com</i> reported that the middle 80% of real estate analysts earned between $45,000 and $82,000, with a median salary of $61,301.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeRelatedAlternativeCareers">What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?</h3><p>As a financial analyst, instead of focusing on real estate, you could choose to specialize in another area of the field. For example, as a ratings analyst, you would assess the capacity of public and private organizations to pay their debts, which is information that can be used by management teams to give them specific risk ratings. Alternatively, you could become a portfolio manager, where your job would be to choose the mix of investments for a company or organization. This can include real estate properties, as well as stocks and hedge funds. Over time, you would monitor the portfolio's overall performance and make changes accordingly. To become either a portfolio manager or a ratings analyst, you need to have at least a bachelor's degree.</p>