Newer brokerages take top spots in Mega 1000 rankings 

T3 Sixty has released its Mega 1000 list of the top real estate brokerages for 2023, which includes brokerage rankings by sales volume, agent count and buy-and-sell side transactions. In a year that presented numerous challenges to the industry, many prominent real estate brokerages witnessed declines in one or more of the metrics, though there were a few outliers. 

Leading the list for sales volume is Compass, which saw $228 billion in sales last year. While year-over-year volume for Compass decreased by over 10%, the tech-heavy outfit has been able to stay in the top brokerage spot three years in a row. Rounding out the top five after Compass are Anywhere Advisors with a 2022 sales volume of $222 billion, HomeServices of America with $165.7 billion, eXp Realty with $159.1 billion, and Douglas Elliman at $42.8 billion.

A notable trend among top brokerages was the rising stature of younger companies, which have been edging out legacy brands for the last several years, suggested Jack Miller, president and CEO of T3 Sixty. (Note: Real Estate News and T3 Sixty share a founder, Stefan Swanepoel.)

"It's incredible to see these relatively new companies — Compass and eXp Realty — own the top three slots of the rankings, and companies like Peerage, At World Properties and HomeSmart firmly in the top 10 by sales volume," he said in a statement. 

Compass was founded in 2012, while eXp was launched in 2009. Peerage, At World and HomeSmart were all founded after 2000.

Peerage, United among brokerages with across-the-board growth

While many brokerages witnessed some degree of turbulence in 2023, Peerage Realty Partners, which ranked eighth for sales volume, was one of the few brokerages that had positive year-over-year numbers for sales volume (79.3%), sides (28.8%) and agent count (83.4%). Its success can be attributed to strategic partnerships, CEO Gavin Swartzman told Real Estate News.

"In the first half of last year, we forged partnerships with Premier Sotheby's International Realty and Pacific Sotheby's International Realty — cementing our status as the largest Sotheby's franchisee in the world," he said over email. "In the Pacific Northwest, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to add Hasson Real Estate to the Cascade Sotheby's International Realty family."

Another firm that bucked the negative trend was United Real Estate, which ranked 12th with $20.9 billion in sales, representing a 46.5% year-over-year increase. It also witnessed a 14.5% bump in agent count and 3.5% gain in sides.

The positive stats across the board aren't a coincidence, United Real Estate CEO Dan Duffy told Real Estate News. 

"Without a lot of fanfare, the last year and a half is when the 100% commission split, flat-fee model — and specifically, United — really fleshed out our complement of services," he said. "It is causing an acceleration of departures from traditional models — and we've specifically invested very heavily in making certain that an agent doesn't have to choose between a flat fee and maybe less service."

United offers a 100% commission structure, only charging a $65 monthly fee and then a $595 fee per transaction, which is becoming increasingly more appealing to agents, he said. And then there's the focus on territories with strong population growth, he added.

"If you take a look at our heat map of where we've intentionally built our business, it's in high net migration markets like Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale," he noted.

Other brokerages in the top 20 with annual gains in sales volume, sides and agent count include No. 13 RE/MAX Gold, representing Gold Nation; No. 15 Fathom Realty; and No. 18 The Real Brokerage.

To see the full 2023 Mega 1000 list and how the major brokerages stacked up, visit realestatealmanac.com.