Almost a quarter of real estate agents in Otago and Southland have left the industry temporarily or permanently in the past 12 months, figures from their licensing body shows.
Agents must apply for relicensing by April each year and pay an $800 fee.
This year, the number of individual licence holders in Otago and Southland dropped by 278 to 877 - a decrease of 24% over the previous year, Real Estate Agents Authority figures showed.
Agents wishing to take time out temporarily can suspend their licences, and 182 Otago-Southland agents did that.
A further 96 let their licences expire, which authority spokesman Dan Ormond said indicated they had left the industry and were not planning to return.
Nationally, the number of agents fell from 17,809 to 13,092, or 26%.
Auckland dropped 25%, Nelson-Marlborough 28% and Canterbury-West Coast 26%.
The region with the largest decline was Bay of Plenty, with 30%.
Dunedin real estate company owner Liz Nidd, spokeswoman for the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Otago-Southland region, said she was not surprised by the drop in the number of agents locally.
"It demonstrates the difficulties happening in the market. It is hard work at the moment ..."
With residential sales volumes about half of what they were at the peak of the market in 2007, "there was a smaller [income] pie to go around".
Agents struggling to make money were leaving for other work, she said.
However, there were still agents "making serious money".
"In a market like this, a lot of diligent, repetitive work has to go before you get sales, work like servicing existing clients and building trust and relationships with new clients. There are still agents prepared to do that."
A Dunedin real estate agent who suspended her licence this year said a combination of family commitments and the market had led to her decision.
"I need to be with my children at nights and weekends ... when you're not making the money it's not worth carrying on".
The woman said she did not want to give her name as she hoped to return to the industry when her children were older and the market had improved.
