2022 was a rollercoaster year. It continued the strong pandemic- and post-pandemic fueled housing markets through the first half. In the third quarter, the market’s record-breaking performance was abruptly stopped. Despite market headwinds the top brokerages maintained growth in the 2023 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings.
The top four companies remained at the top. However, eXp Realty displaced HomeServices of America who held the No. For the past four years, eXp Realty has held the No. 1 spot in transaction sides.
Compass rose to the No. 1 spot last year. Compass rose to No. 1 in sales volume to the top of their list and kept their No. Anywhere Advisors occupied the No. 1 spot this year. 2.
eXp Realty moved to No. 4 with 355,627 transactions sides in 2022 to No. This year, the brand saw a remarkable growth line with 397,138 transactions sides.
Top four retain 20% market share
The market share of the U.S. was around 20% for the top four – Anywhere Advisors and HomeServices of America; Compass and eXp Realty.
Steve Murray, Senior Advisor at RealTrends, stated that these four brokerage companies generated just over $20 billion in residential gross revenue. This shows steady growth in a downmarket. These same firms closed just over $14 billion in the 2021 rankings, based on 2020 data. This means that the increase in one-year revenue was 43% among these four firms. The difference between 2022-2023 was the same.
“This year’s list demonstrates the effects of a changing market on the top brokerage companies in the country. Although transaction volumes and transaction sides were down from their peak in 2021, the RealTrends 500 represented firms outperformed the market in almost every category,” states Mark Adams, Vice President of Real Estate, HW Media.
The 2023 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings show that the largest firms have a record 2020 and 2021 years. This is at rates not seen since 2020. Steve Murray, founder and senior advisor to RealTrends, said that the RealTrends 500 companies have seen record growth in volume, share, and number of Realtors for three consecutive years.
Steady numbers between 2022-2023
All the firms in the 2023 RealTrends 500(RT500) achieved approximately 40% of all brokerage-controlled sales in this country. This is the same as the 2022 rankings with 35.9% all Realtors. Agents with RT500 companies had an average of 6.6 transactions per agents, compared to 7.9 transactions last year. The median number of agents per RT500 company was 1,180 this year, an increase of 1,138 from 2022’s rankings. In 2021, the number was 1,025
Join other successful brokerages, teams, and industry leaders at the 2023 RealTrends Gathering of Eagles in Austin, Texas, June 18-21. Register by clicking here Firms that offer low-fee brokerage services or low-cost brokerage services remain stable
Seven of the top 25 RealTrends 500 brokerage companies by transaction sides are low-fee and low-cost. Low-cost or low fee firms charge flat fees to agents or have higher splits than traditional firms.
United Real Estate is No. 7. Other top 25 companies include HomeSmart (9), Fathom Realty (10), The Real Brokerage (11) and Real Estate ONE Group (15). West USA Realty (19) and Samson Properties (23) are also included. Many of these firms were able to acquire transactions and were ranked higher this year than they were last year, including Samson Properties, West USA Realty, and United Real Estate.
48 new members of the Billionaire’s Club
According to data from the 2023 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings, the Billionaire’s Club is made up of top U.S. realty brokerage firms that have closed more than one billion dollars worth of real estate transactions in 2022. The number of Billionaire’s Club members is lower than last year at 392 firms (compared to 435 in 2022), but it’s still higher that the 347 members from 2021. However, this year’s rankings include many new firms.
This year, 48 new companies joined The Billionaire’s Club. It is important to remember that these firms may have been on the list in previous years, but not last year.
Slower growth
Murray stated that “in a downyear, leading brokerage firms represented by the RealTrends 500 once more picked up market share in total transactions and sales volume.” It is interesting to note that the four largest brokerage companies only held their own collectively. It is clear that low-cost brokerage companies gained the most ground in the market.
Murray points out that larger firms, with well-known national or local brands and access technology and marketing tools that aren’t generally available to all other firms, have also gained ground. “Most importantly, growth wasn’t owned by just one brand, model, or market. He stated that leadership at the local level is still the most important factor for growth.
RealTrends is the undisputed leader when it comes to ranking real estate brokerage firms, agents, and teams. To confirm the validity and sales volume of transactions submitted by firms, third-party verification must be done.
Murray stated that RealTrends’ large valuation and M&A practices allow them to have access to hundreds upon hundreds of brokerage financial reports each year. “Because those financial statements, it is possible to verify the accuracy of numbers submitted to us. This adds an extra layer of verification to the process we use.”
Realtrends.com offers more information about the 2023 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings, as well as analysis of the insights in the report.