Texas-based Keller Williams (KW) reported first quarter earnings last week, seeing domestic transactions, listings and closings fall compared to a year ago while sales volume rose 10.5% to $108.4 billion—a clear illustration of shrinking inventory and rising prices. The company also added significantly fewer agents worldwide compared to a year ago—gaining 1,523 net agents in Q1 2022 against 3,909 in Q1 2021.
Overseas, KW’s international brand Keller Williams Worldwide (KWW) saw significant increase year-over-year in volume and transactions—up 27.1% and 25.9% respectively, while also seeing new listings drop.
President of KW Marc King said in a statement that domestically the company is prepared for a new kind of market this year.
“The appreciation of home prices has resulted in agents’ commissions far outpacing the rate of inflation,” he said. “We’re continuing to lean into our world-class training, coaching and technology to ensure our agents are poised to face the headwinds of higher mortgage rates and ongoing housing supply constraints.”
With a presence in more than 50 countries outside of the United States and Canada, KWW president said in a statement that “our pipeline remains strong for new worldwide regions.”
With 173,944 total agents at the end of the quarter, KW executives have continued to highlight tech and culture-related opportunities for its agents. The company also shone a spotlight on a new initiative to train agents in sports and entertainment opportunities, focused specifically on college athletics, as well as seven KW leaders named as RISMedia Newsmakers this year.
“We are overall pleased with the results of our agents amid hypercompetitive market conditions,” said Jason Abrams, head of industry for KW and KWW’s parent company, kwx.
Editor’s Note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Jason Abrams as CEO of kwx.
