Real Estate Industry May Cut 15% of Workforce

Real Estate Agents had better get prepared. Some career counseling and job training may be in order ...

Can the economy survive the housing bust?

Real estate downturns have a way of leading to recessions and stock market slumps. So far the damage has been limited, but the numbers keep getting worse, says Fortune's Jon Birger.

Business is so bad for real estate brokers that Steve Murray, a realty consultant and publisher of the Real Trends newsletter, thinks the industry might end up paring 15 percent of its workforce. That equates to 200,000 agents, which is more than the total layoffs at Ford Motor Co. since 2000.