Exactly the problem is the laws. And luckily I believe the real estate profession is still relatively open compared to other areas.
I could easily see the government requiring a 4 year degree to get certified, and homes legally having to be sold through certified agents. Where the government also limits the total supply of those agents. That is how many professions are set up in America.
Similarly your statement that this is the problem with laws applies to the building permit process in Pennsylvania (maybe other states as well).
In order to get a permit (for a commercial building) one must submit drawings with an architects or engineers seal and signature. No matter what you are doing you need a permit.
We purchased a building that was a restaurant intending to renovate. We ended up building a concrete block addition that is 12 by 30 feet. The addition cost us a little over 30K to have built. The PERMITS ended up costing us about 8500 bucks by the time we got all the drawings done.
This law was put into effect about a year ago. While we have no issue with code compliance we have a big issue with the requirement that a mechanical engineer produce drawings for the heating/ventilation system in an addition (the only heat is radiant in the floor and there is no ventilation in this addition) and charge us 1500 bucks for it! In shopping around for drawings we were quoted prices as high as 18K for the drawings - over 50% of the cost of the addition!
The law needs to be changed to reflect common sense. In my research on how the law got there in the first place it appears that certain legislators from the big cities insisted these provision be included - no doubt influenced by either lobbyists or contributors - thus giving many "professionals" a gravy train of earnings.
While we just bit the bullet and moved on, many prospective businesses would just do what they have to to avoid this process and either continue to use an unsafe building or choose to abandone otherwise worthwhile projects.
This is another fine example of government taking care of us whether we need it or not!