In the aftermath of the turmoil in the real estate industry, it’s no surprise that there’s a drop in the number of real estate licensees and stricter license requirements for mortgage lenders. The message was conveyed by California Department of Real Estate commissioner Jeff Davi to real estate professionals at the April meeting of the Filipino American Real Estate Professional Association. Davi said there are currently 490,201 real estate licensees, a big drop from a peak of 548,000 a couple of years ago. Davi estimated only half are actually practicing in today’s market. He expects the number of licensees will continue to drop by the end of this year, but not below 450,000. “We see that once people obtain their license, they tend to keep it even if they don’t practice,” Davi said.