This analysis by Mike DelPrete is available exclusively to subscribers of Inman Intel, a data and research arm of Inman offering deep insights and market intelligence on the business of residential real estate and proptech. Subscribe today.
Chart by Mike DelPrete
A relative newcomer to the industry, The Real Brokerage is growing fast and is one of the few brokerages to materially grow its transaction count in 2022.
Why it matters: In a notoriously slow-moving industry, it’s worth tracking the fast movers.
Dig deeper: The Real Brokerage was a big winner in 2022, with its transaction count increasing by 181 percent — 24,000 units — compared to an overall industry decline of 18 percent.
- On a unit basis, The Real Brokerage was second only to eXp Realty in terms of its growth.
Chart by Mike DelPrete
Like other growing brokerages, the surge was fueled by agent recruitment: The Real Brokerage’s agent count increased 113 percent to 8,200 agents in 2022 (and has since exceeded 10,000).
- Agent count is the most reliable indicator that correlates to transaction count growth.
Chart by Mike DelPrete
Cash flow: There is chatter about The Real Brokerage’s profitability and ability to sustain itself.
- During 2022, The Real Brokerage’s cash balance fell from $29 million to $18 million – but that drop includes $10 million in acquisition-related expenses.
- Outside of acquisitions, the company appears to be close to cash-flow positive.
Chart by Mike DelPrete
What to watch: As we’ve seen with other brokerages, the momentum of The Real Brokerage’s agent recruitment will likely propel the business to continued growth in 2023.
The bottom line: It’s difficult to look at The Real Brokerage and not think of eXp Realty — both companies have similarly favorable agent commission splits and multilevel revenue share schemes.
- And while future performance is uncertain, The Real Brokerage appears to be in the early stages of an exponential growth phase, driven by strong agent recruitment.
- A receding tide reveals winners and losers in the brokerage space: The Real Brokerage is on the winning side of the ledger, growing quickly and at an increasingly meaningful scale.
Note: I’ve had coffee with The Real Brokerage’s chief technology officer, but I have no financial stake nor association with the company. I’m just looking at the data — and it’s difficult to ignore a fast-moving business in a slow-moving industry.
