In a strongly worded 2025 State of the Housing Market address at the Keller Williams Mega Agent Camp August 12, Co-Founder Gary Keller noted the continuing challenges facing real estate, but stressed that agents must focus on results over the course of their careers instead of worrying about the current year.
“These are tough times, make no mistake about it,” he told an audience of nearly 4,000 KW agents and brokers. “The bottom line is that shifts happen. But when you fall, get up and run. When you stumble, gather yourself and run. When you’re down, look up and run. When you’re scared, find your way and run. And when you’re happy, embrace your joy and run. And in a shift, run harder.”
Striding onstage all in black, with AC/DC’s crunchy “Back in Black” song getting the crowd adrenalized, Keller encouraged agents and brokers to double down on lead generation and other business basics, saying that it could be another year before the housing market begins its rebound. “People get caught up in having a great year instead of a great career,” he said. “But your annual production over your lifetime is the average of your production, not your best year.
“My prediction was that by the third quarter of 2026, we would know whether we would be coming out of it or staying in longer. And we don’t know the answer to that yet. It’s like Groundhog Day. We’ll wake up in the third quarter of 2026, we’ll come out, look around, and say ‘How are we doing?’
“There are empires being built right now,” he continued. “This is called Mega Camp, not Average Camp. There are empires being built right now off of the bones of the individuals who won’t get out of bed and do the work.”
Joining Keller onstage were KW Head of Industry and Learning Jason Abrams, VP of Strategic Content Jay Papasan, and Chief Economist Ruben Gonzalez. They explored the concept of “shifts” in the market, emphasizing the importance of adapting strategies to secure an “unfair share” during challenging times. They discussed the book, “Shift,” that Keller co-wrote, which outlines 12 tactics applicable in any business situation, especially during economic downturns.
“The interesting thing is we wrote the book and then we looked at each other and we said, ‘okay, we wrote this about hard times,’” said Keller. “But the reality is, anytime you want to shift your business to another gear, those 12 tactics absolutely apply in any situation.”
The conversation also included a look at the current state of the U.S. economy, highlighting issues like inflation, unemployment and government policy uncertainty. The speakers analyzed the impact of these factors on real estate, noting the polarization between successful and unsuccessful agents based on their ability to generate leads. They also touched on the AI revolution, comparing investment levels to the early internet era and discussing the implications of AI on the real estate industry.
Keller continually emphasized the importance for agents and brokers to stay the course and work hard for lead generation, with good times always following bad.
“If it took two hours to talk to 20 people a day in a good time, it may take four hours and it may take 40 people in a bad time,” he said. “And the difference, and you’ll hear it, right, we have over 60 people that are across this stage who are winning in today’s market.
“Most people talk about their best year. For me, this is going to be the average of my lifetime, and I’m going to do good things. I’m going to do bad things. I’m going to do smart things, dumb things. I’m going to be in booming markets. I’m going to be in horrible markets, but I still want to be in business. I want to help people, and I’m going to get paid the fees that I need to be paid in order to do that business.”
