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While Robert Reffkin and Compass are touting their success while pushing for the repeal of the National Association of Realtors‘ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy, eXp Realty executives are claiming that the North American MLS system is helping to fuel their company’s strong international growth.
“I was in Egypt last week with the team, and one of the most interesting things I noticed was the launch of Egypt MLS, which is being launched in conjunction with the government,” Glenn Sanford, the CEO of eXp World Holdings, told investors and analysts during the firm’s fourth-quarter and full year 2024 earnings call Thursday evening.
“In the U.S., there is a big debate right now about private marketplaces, but the data shows that sellers generally can sell for a shorter period of time and for a higher dollar amount because of the MLS.”
Sanford said that eXp’s own operation in Egypt is being set up in conjunction with an eXp agent who works in the U.S. but is originally from Egypt.
“These findings really helped him validate the value of an MLS with his Middle Eastern counterparts,” Sanford said of the data. “Internationally, things are generally where they were in the U.S. 30 or 40 years ago. It is like real estate met the internet without the benefit of the MLS.”
According to Sanford, this has resulted in a landscape that is populated by disparate listing portals that are all lobbying for advertising and promotions. They charge agents a significant amount of money for these, with little to no interest in the quality of the data they provide consumers.
“So, what we’re seeing is, eXp is bringing kind of a professionalizing influence, and we’re being recognized as the company bringing this new way of working to other parts of the world,” Sanford said.
But while eXp and its executives may be advocating for NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) to remain in place, eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja noted that if the U.S. housing market “goes backward in time 50 years” to a model that relies on private listing networks, his firm — with its 80,000-plus agents and transaction count of more than 400,000 in 2024 — is well positioned to succeed.
“We have more agents and we do more unit transactions than anybody else by a huge margin. We are, from a technology stack, completely operational and can do this at scale,” Pareja said on the earnings call.
“We prefer to operate within the framework that exists today because we think it’s the best thing for the consumer, but if we go back in time, we will have an unfair advantage on everybody.”
Looking ahead, eXp executives are hoping that their knowledge and usage of the North American MLS model under CCP will continue to fuel international growth. In 2024, the company reported a 63% annual increase in international revenue. The firm is now operating in 24 countries, with launches in Peru, Egypt and Türkiye coming online shortly.
“We want to be in 60-plus countries in the next five years,” Sanford declared. “My goal is to invest in international and get us to scale, so that when we have these conversations five years from now, it will be the largest profit driver for the country, because we’ll have more than 50% of agents on the international side of the house.”
But while growth is the name of the game at eXp, executives are focused on bringing in and retaining productive agents. While the firm’s count of 82,980 agents at the end of 2024 is impressive, it is down 5% annually.
According to Pareja, 90% of the domestic agents who left the company recorded seven or fewer transactions in the past year, with 50% of these agents reporting no sales.
“We’ve really focused on maintaining and attracting the highest productive individuals as well as team leaders,” Pareja said. “So, to me, 2025 looks like a win if our focus continues to be on productive agents.”
Known previously for its recruiting efforts and revenue share model, Pareja said he wants the brokerage to be known as the place “where pros go to grow.”
“I really describe the company as a platform that allows real estate entrepreneurs to build whatever size dream they want,” Pareja said. “Our focus is on operational excellence followed with world-class technology partnerships and really continuing to improve the value stack. So, in 2025, we’re just going to double down and actually increase our investments and what’s working for long-term growth.”
But while eXp executives were pleased with the growth of their company, which recorded a 7% annual increase in revenue to $4.6 billion in 2024, eXp still failed to turn a profit.
The company lost $21.3 million last year, more than double its $9.5 million net loss in 2023. Additionally, the amount of cash and cash equivalents the company has on hand also dropped from $125.9 million to $113.6 million during the year.
But eXp executives are not fazed by this news.
“On the international side, we’re definitely focused on opening up more countries, and that does add additional cost components to the overall mix, but that has offsetting benefits — two or three years out of revenues and then getting to scale,” Sanford said.
“Now, eXp North America is the driving engine that is allowing us to expand around the world, and it is the profit center for our company right now.”
