Compass claims top US brokerage spot for 2021 sales

After just missing the top spot in a 2021 brokerage ranking, Compass has come out as the largest in the United States in terms of closed sales volume.

Real Trends cited rapid growth in terms of agent count and rising home prices for the brokerage’s debut in the No. 1 spot based on 2021 earnings reports.

“In less than 10 years, we went from nothing — not existing — to #1,” CEO Robert Reffkin wrote in a company-wide email celebrating the ranking.

“You can now tell every past, present, and prospective client that you are part of the largest brokerage in the country. You can have confidence that your referral network is officially the best in the United States,” Reffkin wrote. “And you can take pride in the fact that your success is a vital part of something much, much bigger.”

Compass has 26,000 agents in 69 markets, according to its fourth quarter earnings. In 2021, the company added nearly 7,000 agents and launched 25 new markets.

Overall, Compass agents closed 225,272 total transactions in fiscal year 2021, up 56 percent from 2020. The gross transaction value reached $254.2 billion, an increase of 68 percent from the year prior.

The company was aided by rising home prices and increased migration, which defined 2021.

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Still, Compass last year faced mixed success, reporting a loss of nearly $175 million in the fourth quarter, up from the $100 million lost in the third quarter and $40 million in the same period in 2020. In total, the brokerage, which went public in April, lost nearly half a billion dollars last year.

Compass shares debuted at $18 last April and the firm was valued at $7 billion. However, in recent months, the stock value has fallen by 70 percent, the firm has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion. At the time of IPO, Reffkin’s stake was at more than $460 million, but is now worth less than $150 million.

Real Trends noted the ranking does not reflect the company’s place in the overall 2022 RealTrends brokerage rankings, which will be released at the end of March.