The top 8 reasons agents switch brokerages: Study
Compensation, a brokerage’s direction and its risk management strategy are among the most common reasons agents move, a new Recruiting Insight study suggests.
Key points:
- A Q3 study released this week by Recruiting Insight and Lone Wolf Technologies shows that agents’ No. 1 reason for leaving their brokerage is compensation. However, several other factors may also move the needle.
- The majority of agents who left their brokerage recently chose to move to an independent firm, the study found.
- A reduction in an agent’s sales volume does not necessarily signal that they are getting ready to move. But an agent’s past behavior and the behavior of their colleagues may prove telling.
Recruitment and retention are common pain points for brokerages. What makes an agent decide to leave or stay over time?
The answer can sometimes mystify brokers, but the numbers behind the quandary suggest it's a problem worth delving into.
Over the course of a year, about 1 in 8 producing agents change affiliations to a new firm, according to a new study produced by Recruiting Insight with Lone Wolf Technologies. Though many brokerages tout the benefits of their firm's model, the data drawn from recorded closings within four of the nation's largest MLSs from Q4 2024 through Q3 2026 shows there's no clear correlation between model type and agent gains or losses.
There are, however, eight specific reasons why agents choose to leave, as well as some clear warning signs that brokerage leaders should be aware of ahead of the post-holiday winter season, when agent migration tends to pick up.
Why agents leave
Unsurprisingly, money was the first reason agents said they decided to leave their firm. But seven other reasons also stood out across 200 hours of agent exit interviews, the report found. These include:
Brokerage direction, including leadership and vision
De-risking, or agent protection and support
Agent development, including training and coaching
Brokerage differentiation across brand and value proposition
Digital offerings, like modern marketing and technology
Brokerage dynamic, including culture and environment
Overall agent dissatisfaction
Red flags for brokerage leaders
Despite a common industry misconception that an agent's slumping sales volume signals an impending brokerage move, Recruiting Insight's data found that, on average, a 25% reduction in agent production made no difference on their likelihood of moving.
An agent's past behavior and the current behavior of their teammates tend to be better indicators. For example, agents who moved firms within the past year are 1.7 times more likely to leave their brokerage than the typical agent, the study found. Agents whose offices lost either over 20% or 5-20% of its total agents to rival firms were also 1.9 times and 1.2 times more likely to leave for another brokerage, respectively.
Other warning signs include an agent's possession of a broker license and annual total production under $4 million.
Agents who exhibited three to four of the main warning signs were 1.8 times more likely to move firms than the typical agent. Overall, the more deals an agent closes per quarter, the less likely they are to change brokerages, the study suggested.
Shifts worth noting
Independent brokerages saw some significant gains in the period assessed for the study, with 53% of agents who left named brands moving to independent firms.
With the exception of Q3 2026, independents added more production from named brands than they lost in the past seven quarters. Though independent firms gained 137 agents in Q3, they also lost $29 million in production, which the study attributed to three major group exits and a separate move led by a top producer.
Meanwhile, franchise losses are narrowing in both agent count and production. Net agent losses declined from 503 in early 2025 to 342 while production losses reduced from $2.67 billion in Q2 of 2025 to $1.58 billion.
This past quarter's biggest winner in terms of recruitment was a rapidly growing cloud-based firm, which the study did not identify by name. That brokerage had a 131 net agent gain and took 39% of its recruits from just two competing brokerages.
Top producers are also moving more in this environment. In Q3, 87 agents who produce $20 million or more annually swapped brokerages — the most of the past eight quarters even as total agent moves declined overall.