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Agents have navigated significant industry shakeups and instability in the last year as commission lawsuits continue to impact the way they have done business for decades. They’ve also had to grapple with the reality of industry changes while simultaneously battling market challenges, like high interest rates and high home prices.
But homebuyers and sellers are increasingly gaining confidence and getting back into the market more, Engel & Völkers Americas President and CEO Anthony Hitt told Inman. That movement has him feeling more positive than he’s felt in about the last two years.
“I have not been this optimistic for quite a while,” Hitt said. “It’s nice to feel better about where we are as an industry, where things are going and seeing some real positivity on the horizon.”
The president and CEO shared more thoughts with Inman on the current state of the market and the importance of maintaining focus as industry distractions continue. Here’s what he had to say, edited for brevity and clarity.
Inman: What are the biggest challenges in the market for Engel & Völkers agents and brokers right now?
Anthony Hitt: Probably the biggest challenge for anyone in the industry right now — and I would not exclude Engel & Völkers — is focus. Because I think with the lawsuits and all the noise we have in our industry, sometimes we forget just to focus on taking care of our clients, building relationships and selling properties. And I think that’s really what our focus is as a brand right now, is making sure that we are, I don’t want to say ‘back to the basics,’ but really focused on the basics of building those relationships and taking great care of our clients.
There is so much happening right now in the industry that I could understand where it would be hard to focus.
Absolutely. And it’s definitely easy to let all of that distract us. But as I [said] at our EVX stage earlier this year, there’s always something that’s going to disrupt or destroy our industry and our careers — and it’s yet to happen. Usually those things that mask as disruption end up being huge opportunities, and I think our current environment is definitely one of those situations.
Good. Aside from all of these things that are happening with the lawsuits and changes to regulations, etc., what sorts of broad-stroke trends are you seeing in the summer market right now?
I’m going to go back to really looking at what our advisors are doing. We’re seeing that the market generally, and I’m speaking generally across the Americas, has stabilized. We still have shortages of inventory, but buyers are seeming to get off the sidelines a bit more. Interest rates, while they’re not coming down at the pace that most of us would like to see, the fact is, I think most buyers are resolved [that] this is the environment that they’re in. And sellers who need to move on are making the decision to go ahead and move on.
So those advisors who are focused on helping clients make those moves are the ones who are actually seeing a pretty good summer. If I look at our individual advisors in our brand, we’re generally having a very good summer.
That’s great to hear. Are there any hot markets in particular you’ve heard about from your advisors?
I think what we’re seeing is that it really does kind of vary. There’s a lot of areas that seem to be, either the interest is there or [it’s] back. A lot of the second-home markets that had quieted down seem like they’re picking up a little bit. The metros where we weren’t really quite sure what was going to happen are also picking up. So generally I think every place is a good market right now, with very few exceptions.
I like being this optimistic, by the way. I have not been this optimistic for quite a while. It’s nice to feel better about where we are as an industry, where things are going and seeing some real positivity on the horizon.
Absolutely. I’m also curious about what plans Engel & Völkers has for the company through the remainder of 2024.
Well, this answer may not be the most exciting answer, but we’re not a shiny-objects brand. We’re not really always looking for the next big thing. We’re looking at doing the things we do better and I think you’re going to continue to see that, where we just keep our focus — back to my first point — keep our focus on taking good care of our clients, making sure that our advisors have the tools they need to actually move the dial on their businesses and taking care of their clients, and you’re going to see a lot more of that.
Our development services designation and team are doing some amazing things and we’re seeing them really pick up some steam as the new-home market is starting to increase.
We introduced commercial a couple months ago in the Americas and we’re also seeing a lot of movement with our new commercial designation and teams.
So those would be the biggest focuses for us right now, is doing what we do and doing it better. We like to use the word ‘refinement’ — just continuing to refine who we are, where we’re going and how we take the best care of our clients.
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