Anywhere – the parent company for Century21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, The Corcoran Group, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and ERA – sold to Compass this week.
It’s huge real estate industry news.
The deal is an all-stock purchase of $1.6 billion plus another $2.6 billion in debt. The total deal valuation is $4.2 billion.
On Monday, the day mainstream announced this, Compass’s stock cratered almost 16% (Wall Street doesn’t like debt), while Anywhere’s stock ripped 45% higher.
This deal will increase the number of Compass real estate agents from 33,000 to about 350k agents world-wide. Real estate industry news outlets are going crazy this week as it’s like it got hit by an earthquake.
That is a lot of agents who woke up this week who’ll have to wear a jersey they did not choose. It’s a clear statement that Compass is a company who values agent headcount over service quality.
This is what happens in an industry when innovation slows, and consolidation grows. Our industry is not a commodity business. It’s about people: sellers, buyers, developers… and the agents who serve them.
But, scale does not automatically equal better outcomes. Consolidation does not automatically equal innovation. Corporate objectives and customer outcomes are not always aligned. And when size becomes the headline, agents and their brands can feel like their being treated as units inside a system they didn’t chose to be part of.
This Real Estate Industry News and it’s Numbers
To put some perspective on the valuation of this transaction – if it finalizes – the market capitalization (total outstanding shares of the company multiplied by the present share price) of Anywhere was $1.15 billion.
The collective number of agents in the Anywhere brands mentioned above was about 320k.
The broker I work for, Exp Realty LLC, has about 85,000, yet it’s “Market Cap” today is almost 1.7 billion.
So, Anywhere has about 235,000 more agents than Exp Realty, yet its Market Cap is $500 million less. I know, you’re screaming, “What’s wrong with that picture?”
Anywhere brands have antiquated, legacy systems. Lots of brick n mortar offices with enormous leases. Swollen operating costs… to give you a few answers. And not to be biased about Exp Realty, but it is the largest brokerage in the US in terms of the number of transactions from its agents.
With 85k agents, Exp had 350,119 transactions in 2024. Anywhere had 246,728 sales.
Real Estate Industry News For Owners
Now look at the chart below. This graph was 2023 data and shows the most profitable brokerages – as in net-income. Exp Realty was the most profitable – and almost the only brokerage to make profit – in the sample (The 2024 numbers have a similar look, but no graph could be found).
At the end of the day, it comes back to our customers – you. It’s not about the brokerages and how big they get. Or about how rich shareholders get. It’s about how well customers get served.
This acquisition is scheduled to close in June 2026. In the meantime, there will be thousands, or tens’ of thousands of agents leaving the “new” Compass to find a jersey they want to wear. Perhaps you’ll have a friend who’ll announces they’ve moved to a new brokerage.
As for me, I’ve been through real estate industry news like this, and plenty of mergers. I was a franchise partner, the Master Franchisor and President of Coldwell Banker Costa Rica for 13 years. We opened 13 office in those years. I saw first-hand legacy, outdated business models that are now being gobbled up.
All this is to say, I’ll be at Exp Realty until my career ends. I love our agent-centric model, built sustainably with no brick n mortar offices. It’s a virtual platform and values our customer – you.
Thank you for your time reading about this real estate industry news I felt you’d enjoy. Thank you for your past or future business. And thank you for thinking of me when you know of someone who may be able to use my professional services.
(Main Photo is from last Saturday morning along Delray’s beach during a break from the storms)
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*** My latest Video, “The South Florida Luxury Real Estate Boom Explained” came out last Thursday and is loaded with data you’ll find useful.
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*** South Florida Real Estate Inventory is ABOVE 2019 ***
Last week’s supply was 57,282
Today’s supply is 57,409
*** Supply was down slightly last week ***
*** Supply is DOWN 16 of 20 weeks and Down 10% From April’s high***
