The party's over, and thousands of Georgia's real estate sales agents are going home.

The decline of agents is the largest since the sales force hit a record high in 2007. The number of active agents has fallen by 6,131, or 5.9 percent, according to the Georgia Real Estate Commission, which licenses agents.

Their departure is expected as the days of easy sales — and commissions — fade into history.

"A lot of people weren't having to work real hard to make really good incomes," said Bob Hamilton, chief executive of the Georgia Association of Realtors, a professional organization.

In Georgia, at least some of the decline appears to be among part-time sales agents. The state doesn't analyze the data it collects, said Jeff Ledford, the state real estate commissioner.

People who sell real estate as a side job typically get into the market to supplement their other household income, said Becky Babcock, a Realtor in Cherokee County who got her license in 1985. When selling homes takes more time, as in the current sluggish market, they tend to go to the sidelines, she said.

"The people leaving are primarily part-time agents who have their license as a secondary income — schoolteachers, firefighters, people who drive a school bus, stay-at-home moms," Babcock said. "I'm not aware of anyone who is an active, full-time, successful real estate agent who has dropped out of the business."

The dip in Georgia follows a national pattern.

Over the past 12 months, about 30,000 people have dropped out of the national real estate sales sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national peak was in June 2006, according to the bureau.

Hamilton said most members of his organization will weather the storm.

"Some will say they can't make it, but the vast majority of our members are hanging in there, doing what they have to do to stay in the business and what they have to do to make a living," he said.