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The stagnant housing market has made it difficult for brokerages and franchises to grow, but one of the more effective ways to do so in the current environment is to add more agents.
That’s bad news for RE/MAX’s business in the U.S. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Friday, RE/MAX disclosed that its U.S. agent count dropped by 7% year over year to 51,286.
It marks the 14th quarter in a row that the company’s domestic agent count declined, with each of these quarterly losses accelerating on an annualized basis.
“[Agent count] is a top-of-the-funnel issue for not only the industry but also for us,” RE/MAX CEO Erik Carlson said on the call. “Some of the items that we’re going to roll out next week — improving the value proposition, building a good foundation, focusing on the customer experience, the agent experience and the broker experience — if we do those things and stay true to who we have been and who we want to be, we’ll be in a good position.
“I’m very optimistic about our ability to lean in, support the network and return us to U.S. agent stability. We’ll have monetization opportunities along the way.”
The good news for RE/MAX is that its international agent count is rising and offsetting its losses in the U.S. The agent count for countries outside the U.S. and Canada hit an all-time high of 70,170, which pushed up the brokerage’s total agent count by 1.2% year over year.
RE/MAX is among a number of legacy brokerages and franchisors that have fallen behind newer companies in terms of agent count. On its fourth-quarter earnings call earlier this week, Compass reported that its agent count grew by 21% year over year.
The Real Brokerage won’t have its earnings call until next month, but it’s been on a tear in terms of adding agents. In 2022 and 2023, its agent count more than doubled year over year, and it rose by 79% in the third quarter of 2024.
On their most recent earnings calls, eXp Realty and Anywhere disclosed agent count decreases of 5.2% and 4.8%, respectively.
Despite the decline in agent count, RE/MAX posted positive financial numbers. Its net income in 2024 was $7.1 million, after it posted a $69 million loss in 2023. That comes despite a drop in revenue, from $325.7 million in 2023 to $307.7 million in 2024.
Carlson also touched on the debate over the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP). He said that the company’s position hasn’t changed, but he’s confident that RE/MAX can thrive regardless of how CCP shakes out.
“If [CCP is eliminated], we would be ready to compete,” he said. “We thought about our business practices and our technology, and how we would go to market, potentially, in a different way. We believe in transparency and what’s in the best interest of the customer.”
RE/MAX teased a “stream of compelling announcements” to come at its agent convention, which will be held next week in Las Vegas.
