Old-time real estate brokerages are holding their own. But new models are taking the lion’s share of growth, according to a new report from real estate analyst and tech strategist Mike DelPrete.
Over the past seven years, new companies with new models have seen their sales volumes grow by more than $383 billion. During the same period, the largest incumbent brokerages grew their sales by just $10 billion.
“While the job of an agent hasn’t changed much, the business models of the fastest growing brokerages have undergone a transformation,” DelPrete writes in his latest report.
The analyst says the growth of outfits like Compass, eXp, Real, and Side “has been stunning” compared to that of the big incumbents like Anywhere and HomeServices of America. Better Homes & Gardens, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA all operate under the Anywhere banner.
“In 2018, Anywhere was nearly nine times as big as eXp. Now that lead has shrunk to only 1.2 times larger,” DelPrete reports. “In 2018, HomeServices of America was three times the size of Compass. Now Compass is 1.7 times larger.”
In a reflection of declining market share, he points out, sales at Anywhere, HomeServices, and Redfin — now part of Rocket Companies — grew less than the increase in the average sales price during the 2018-2024 period.
Currently, the 11 largest brokerages are “a wild mix” of traditional incumbents and new models, according to DelPrete. The list includes luxury brands, 100% commission models, 100-year-old brands, portal hybrids, cloud brokers, and others.
Last year, Compass was the country’s highest volume brokerage, followed by Anywhere, eXp, and HomeServices. Compass’s volume approached $250 billion, while Anywhere and eXp each notched sales totaling more than $150 billion.
Right now, the analyst says, it’s hard to say if the business is changing slowly or quickly. But it’s “clear” that new models are growing “extremely fast” while the traditional brokerages remain large but are lagging.
“It’s not one-size-fits-all and there’s no winning model — yet,” he concludes.
