Real estate agents brace for impact as housing market cools.

The slowdown in home sales has led to a reckoning among real-estate agents who must decide whether the shrinking returns are worth the thousands of dollars and countless hours they're pouring into their businesses. The challenges are most pronounced for newer agents who are still building up their networks, face fierce competition from their veteran counterparts, and haven't yet weathered a downturn such as this one. As the pandemic's homebuying craze now seems like a distant memory, the spring homebuying season will be a crucial test for agents of all experience levels.