In an earlier post, one of our RealBlogging contributors, Stefan Swanepoel, announced the release of the new Real Estate Trends Report 2008.  I've read it...always enlightening.  A couple of days ago, Jack Peckham's Real Estate Cyber Convention featured a short snippet from Stephan giving highlights of three of the trends from his report.  You can see the video above.  I quickly jotted just a few brief notes below from the 7-minute video snippet:

Trend:  Changing the DNA of a new breed of real estate professional.
- 30-120 hours to become a RE agent... But to learn to cut hair:  1200 hours?!
- The need to improve skills above and beyond simple motivations of compliance training...

Trend: Growing market share on a slippery slope.
- Too many agents.
 -NAR projects 7-8% decline... Stefan hopes: 20%?! 
 -Consumer/media perception:  Agents make too much money. (?!)
 -How to succeed in a declining market:
     a. Make a business plan.  A roadmap.
     b. Use technology... internet.
     c. Outsource needed competencies... consider virtual assistants...
     d. Become part of a team.  E.g., Re/max: 25% of agents are in a team.
     e. Mix up your business portfolio...

Trend:  The evolution of online communities and networks.
- For example, the RE Cyber Convention, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook.
- No longer just for kids... stats: YouTube: 100 million; MySpace: 200 million registered users... (That's about two thirds of the U.S. population.) 
- Doesn't exclude the Real Estate industry anymore.  E.g., ActiveRain, Realtown, Zillow, blogs, RealEstate Wiki, Wikipedia.
- Actions for real estate professionals:  Read, blog, participate, contribute.