AccountTECH, a leading provider of specialized accounting, financial intelligence, and benchmarking for real estate brokerages, has released new findings from its annual brokerage financial benchmark research, revealing a significant and sustained improvement in the percentage of real estate brokerages operating with positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, a core profitability metric).
Based on a full-year analysis of 157 real estate brokerage companies in 2025, AccountTECH’s research shows that the industry has made meaningful progress in reducing the prevalence of loss-making firms, continuing a positive trend that began in 2024.
Percentage of Companies with Positive EBITDA
| Year | Companies Analyzed | % Positive EBITDA | % Negative EBITDA |
| 2023 | 138 | 55.8 % | 44.2% |
| 2024 | 155 | 61.3% | 38.7% |
| 2025 | 157 | 69.4% | 30.6% |
Key findings:
- The share of profitable firms rose nearly 14 percentage points over two years, from 55.8% in 2023 to 69.4% in 2025
- 2025 represents the strongest profitability distribution in the three-year period
- The population of loss-making firms has declined by over 30% since 2023
“This research shows a structural shift in the industry,” said the AccountTECH research team in a statement. “The most important change isn’t that top performers are dramatically more profitable—it’s that fewer firms are losing money, and those losses are becoming smaller.”
The company says the data indicates a broad-based improvement in financial outcomes across the industry rather than isolated gains among a small subset of firms.
EBITDA margin distribution analysis (2023–2025)
To understand where profitability is improving, companies were grouped into EBITDA margin bands, ranging from deeply negative to strongly positive.
EBITDA margin buckets (company count)
| EBITDA Margin Band | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Below -10% | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| -10% to -9% | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| -9% to -8% | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| -8% to -7% | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| -7% to -6% | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| -6% to -5% | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| -5% to -4% | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| -4% to -3% | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| -3% to -2% | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| -2% to -1% | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| -1% to 0% | 20 | 23 | 19 |
| 0% to 1% | 11 | 13 | 13 |
| 1% to 2% | 10 | 15 | 22 |
| 2% to 3% | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| 3% to 4% | 14 | 14 | 8 |
| 4% to 5% | 3 | 10 | 8 |
| 5% to 6% | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 6% to 7% | 4 | 7 | 8 |
| 7% to 8% | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| 8% to 9% | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 9% to 10% | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Above 10% | 6 | 6 | 10 |
What the distribution shows:
- Fewer extreme losses
- Companies below -10% EBITDA fell from 4–5 firms in prior years to just 1 firm in 2025
- Deep-loss categories consistently shrank across the three-year period
- Compression toward breakeven and modest profitability
- The -1% to +3% EBITDA range expanded meaningfully in 2025
- This indicates margin stabilization, not volatility
- Growth in higher-margin cohorts
- Firms above 5% EBITDA increased notably in 2025
- Companies above 10% EBITDA rose from 6 to 10
Analytical bottom line
From 2023 to 2025, the AccountTECH data shows a clear structural improvement in industry profitability distribution:
- Loss-making firms are fewer
- Extreme losses are rarer
- More companies are clustering around sustainable, positive EBITDA ranges
The report says this pattern reinforces AccountTECH’s position as the authoritative source for understanding how real estate brokerage profitability is evolving at a structural level, not just at the top end of the market.
To learn more visit https://accounttech.com/.
