Similar to survey results in 2016, the 2017 survey results indicated a continued desire for growth opportunities among financial analysts—especially junior analysts. “While compensation continues to play a significant role in securing top talent, growth potential remains a major player in peaking interest, especially among junior analysts less than two years out of college,” said Schilke in the statement. “Currently, 61% of financial analysts are seeking new employment opportunities. From this pool, buyers of real estate financial analyst talent must stretch to understand how young analysts view their future career path and provide opportunities accordingly, with the goal of retaining them for longer periods of time.”

Survey respondents also expressed a top preference for continuing a career in the office sector, with secondary enthusiasm for industrial, unlike last year where most interest was in multifamily and mixed-use projects, with little interest in industrial. Additionally, 54% of survey respondents expressed interest in acquisitions positions, which RETS attributes not only to the excitement of acquisitions, but also to the closeness of analysts to the acquisitions function.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—According to a RETS Associates survey, Silicon Valley, Orange County and San Francisco boasted the highest wage growth for real estate analysts from entry-level to five-to-seven years of experience in the country this year. The national real estate recruiting firm reports that, according to the findings of its sixth-annual survey of 290 real estate financial analysts with this level of experience—in association with Charles Schilke, JD, director at the Edward St. John Real Estate Program at Johns Hopkins' Carey Business School—analyst wages in Silicon Valley, Orange County and San Francisco surpassed those on the East Coast for the first time since the survey was implemented.

Silicon Valley experienced a 36.5% increase, Orange County a 10% increase and San Francisco a 9% increase in wages, the survey found. Los Angeles still maintained a significant growth rate of 5%, though the amount decreased slightly from 2016. Additionally, the Pacific Northwest reportedly experienced a 37.7% increase in starting-salary growth over the last two years, the highest nationwide.

Kent Elliott, principal of RETS, tells GlobeSt.com, “The continued confidence in and strength of the West Coast markets has required firms to staff accordingly and build out teams to accommodate future activity. Because of this, candidates in the West have the flexibility to field multiple offers, so firms must stay competitive from a wage perspective in order to secure top talent.”

In a prepared statement, Elliott said this continued growth is a true sign of the times, indicative that the market for real estate financial analysts, nationally and in many local metro markets, is at or near a high point in the cycle, posing great employment opportunities for financial analysts, junior and senior alike. Elliott also indicated that the average financial-analyst salary has grown nationwide by 7.5%.

Similar to survey results in 2016, the 2017 survey results indicated a continued desire for growth opportunities among financial analysts—especially junior analysts. “While compensation continues to play a significant role in securing top talent, growth potential remains a major player in peaking interest, especially among junior analysts less than two years out of college,” said Schilke in the statement. “Currently, 61% of financial analysts are seeking new employment opportunities. From this pool, buyers of real estate financial analyst talent must stretch to understand how young analysts view their future career path and provide opportunities accordingly, with the goal of retaining them for longer periods of time.”

Survey respondents also expressed a top preference for continuing a career in the office sector, with secondary enthusiasm for industrial, unlike last year where most interest was in multifamily and mixed-use projects, with little interest in industrial. Additionally, 54% of survey respondents expressed interest in acquisitions positions, which RETS attributes not only to the excitement of acquisitions, but also to the closeness of analysts to the acquisitions function.