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This year’s Fortune 500 is missing three notable giants of the real estate industry.
Released earlier this week, Fortune’s annual list of the biggest companies by revenue dropped Zillow, Compass and Anywhere, illustrating just how severe the impact of elevated mortgage rates and rock-bottom inventory has been on the real estate industry at large, and some of its biggest players in particular.
On Fortune’s 2022 list, Zillow ranked 424th, Anywhere ranked 427th and Compass sat at 495th, but following significant annual revenue drops the three were nowhere to be found on the 2023 list.
Zillow and Compass both debuted on the list just last year, amplifying the longstanding rivalry between Anywhere and Compass, the former of which had been on the list since 2013.
Rocket Companies, whose subsidiaries include Rocket Mortgage, was also left off the list. Rocket Mortgage recently disclosed that it laid off 7,500 workers during 2022, ending the year with 29 percent fewer workers than it began with in an effort to cut costs. The first quarter of 2023 has seen Rocket remain deep in the red, posting a net loss of $411 million as revenue plummeted 75 percent from a year ago.
Compass brought in $6 million in revenue in 2022, down from $6.4 billion the previous year as transactions declined. It also recorded $602 million in losses, up from $494 million one year earlier. Compass CEO Robert Reffkin called 2022 “one of the worst years for the real estate market and a decline at the same rate as the 2007-2008 housing crisis.”
Zillow’s full-year revenue for 2022 was $2 billion, down 8 percent from the previous year. The portal lost $101 million in 2022, down from $528 million during the prior year.
Anywhere Real Estate, whose brands include Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, generated $6.9 billion in revenue in 2022, a decline of 13 percent from the previous year. It lost $287 million in total. Combined closed transaction values fell 14 percent for the Madison, New Jersey-based firm.
Anywhere declined to comment on falling off the Fortune 500 list, while Zillow did not respond to a request for a statement. Compass spokesperson Devin Daly issued a statement pointing out that Compass has been ranked the number one brokerage in the country for two years in a row.
“Our agents continue to outperform the industry,” he said.
Home sales boomed during the pandemic, spurred by low mortgage interest rates and a newfound flexibility provided by remote work. Transactions dropped dramatically during the second half of 2022 as mortgage rates rose, with rates rising above 7 percent during October 2022. Rates now hover around 6 percent, leaving many would-be homesellers reluctant to list their home and lose their lower mortgage rate, severely depressing the number of homes on the market and with it, home sales.
At the top of this years Fortune 500 list were Walmart, Amazon, and Exxon Mobil — the 11th straight year that the big box retailer has topped the list.
