As the supply of homes for sale fell to new depths last year, the largest real estate brokerage companies and franchise networks tightened their grip on the remaining inventory, according to a new report.
The share of home sales accounted for by the top 20 real estate enterprises shot up to 61 percent in 2021, compared to 55 percent the previous year, according to T3 Sixty’s latest corporations report.
The gains in market share by the biggest brokerage players represents a further concentration of sales volume in an already top-heavy industry.
“The residential real estate industry has been consolidating at an accelerated clip over the past several years and this data shows just how significant it is,” T3 Sixty Vice President of Research Paul Bishop said in a statement.
In 2018, the top 20 real estate enterprises accounted for just over half of existing home sales reported by the National Association of Realtors. That means these big companies’ market-share gains in 2021 alone dwarfed those of the previous three years combined.
The largest market player was Realogy Holdings Corp., the company behind a number of the largest brokerages and franchise networks including Realogy Brokerage Group, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, Century 21, Corcoran Group and others.
Realogy’s various companies and brands accounted for nearly $738 billion in sales volume in 2021.
The next-largest real estate enterprise was KWx, the holding company behind the Keller Williams brand of franchise brokerages. KWx accounted for $500 billion in home sales.
RE/MAX Holdings came in third at $341 billion, followed by HomeServices of America at $292 billion and Compass at $254 billion.
This “Big 5” on its own accounted for nearly half of the nation’s market share of existing home sales, at 47 percent.
Among the Big 5 enterprises in 2021 market share, Compass was the fastest-growing in 2021. The company’s sales volume increased by 67 percent from 2020 to 2021, actually surpassing the total sales volume of Realogy Brokerage Group, the largest subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp.
Realty Executives and Douglas Elliman Real Estate — both on the top 20 enterprises list — posted similar year-over-year sales growth as Compass did.
But two large enterprises actually saw their sales volume double from 2020 to 2021: eXp World Holdings; and the parent company of Brown Harris Stevens, Terra Holdings. These two companies led the top 20 enterprises in the rate of sales growth over the previous year.
Among franchise brands, Keller Williams remained the biggest player. But some competitors achieved big growth in sales volume.
This charge was led by Corcoran Group, which nearly doubled its sales volume over the last year. Realty Executives came in second in growth rate among major franchise brands, with nearly 70 percent more sales last year than it posted in 2020.
