RISMedia Releases Full 2021 Power Broker Report: Top 1,000

RISMedia recently released the full Top 1,000 Power Broker Report for 2021. The report is now in its 33rd year, making it real estate’s longest running, premier ranking of the industry’s most successful brokerages, categorized by sales volume and transactions.

View the 2021 Power Broker Rankings here.

This year’s rankings reflect the industry’s unwavering attitude to persevere and tackle challenges head on, even amid uncertainty. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic impacted many worldwide, upending the real estate industry during its first peak in March and April, and forcing practitioners to pivot and find new ways of doing business.

By the summer of 2020, however, things began picking up. Brokers embraced technology—virtual training, video walk-throughs, Zoom calls, etc.—and got back to work, navigating a humming seller’s market with increasing demand for homes but not enough inventory.

In fact, in this year’s Power Broker survey, 84.3% of surveyed brokers stated a lack of inventory was currently their biggest challenge, followed by recruiting and retention (5.3%).

“While new listings continue to enter the market, low inventory and multiple offers continue to be at the forefront of challenges, with approximately one month’s supply available throughout the state of Rhode Island,” said Dean deTonnancourt, president and CEO of HomeSmart Professionals Real Estate, for the Power Broker Report. “Our efforts focus on arming our associates with the tools they need to compete in the marketplace, as well as the education of market trends in fostering consumer confidence.”

Surprisingly, only 3.3% of Power Brokers cited the impact of COVID as their primary challenge. Much of that had to do with preparation: brokers worked hard to set themselves up for success early on, quickly shifting their focus to helping clients buy and sell real estate.

“While initially the market took a dip in 2020, it roared back, and our agents were positioned to take advantage of this new momentum with an unprecedented increase in sales and incredibly low interest rates,” Bo Menkiti, founder and CEO of Keller Williams Capital, told RISMedia for the Power Broker Report. “The adjustments we made during the early stages of the pandemic to become a lean and efficient operation have positioned us well as we head into 2021 and beyond.”

While the pandemic negatively impacted the lives of so many around the world, the real estate industry took the opportunity to bolster its capabilities in order to keep real estate going.

“2020 made us much stronger,” said Gretchen Pearson, president and broker/owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, for the Power Broker Report. “Our actions and positions further defined who we are and what we stand for. We learned to lean into what works, to drop what doesn’t and to move on.”

Now, the industry considers markets to be “booming,” according to 50% of surveyed brokers. Additionally, 53% said they were “cautiously optimistic” regarding their confidence level in the markets.

With the initial hurdles of COVID dealt with, brokers had to address new market challenges and trends; this time negotiating the day-to-day in a completely different way.

“Though real estate was the shining light in the second half of 2020, it also presented to us a tremendous challenge going into 2021. The rapid increase in prices and lack of inventory has created an affordability crisis,” said Robert Bailey, president of Bailey Properties, Inc., in California, for the Power Broker Report. “Local communities who took a low-growth or no-growth policy are now faced with an increasing affordability gap. The ability to work from home generated a whole new demographic of homebuyers who have now discovered the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay area.”

These added obstacles haven’t hindered success, however. Power Brokers posted unbelievable numbers for a year that was fraught with change and uncertainty. This year’s Top 1,000 Power Brokers reported nearly $1.7 trillion in collective sales volume for 2020 compared to last year’s $1.4 trillion. Realogy Brokerage Group ranked at the top for sales volume, reporting $184,582,770,000, while HomeServices of America, Inc. claimed the top spot for transactions with 343,220.

In addition to the rankings, the Power Broker Report collected key insights presented roundtable-style from several brokerage leaders in the April issue of Real Estate magazine, while also capturing essential data and trends, presented in the infographic below.

“Who would have thought that one of the most tumultuous times in our nation’s history would usher in one of the hottest real estate markets on record,” says RISMedia Founder and CEO John Featherston. “The 2021 Power Brokers proved that this industry can accomplish the impossible even amid the most challenging of times. I have no doubt that Power Brokers, and the hard-working real estate professionals who drive their firms, will continue to adapt and innovate, as well as continuously surprise us with their level of ingenuity and creativity and their persistence to succeed.”