The Swanepoel Power 200 ranks the most powerful leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry as 2025 kicks off. Criteria used to rank leaders include the scope and power of leaders’ positions, the financial resources they have at their disposal, whether they have equity stake in their company, their trajectory and much more. For a detailed description of the careful methodology T3 Sixty used to determine the rankings, please see the methodology here.
The SP 200 reflects the relative power of leaders in the industry and is not a company ranking. Size and sales volume listed in bios provide framing and, while used to determine ranking, were just part of the data considered. Note that the numbers used in many of the bios reflect full-year 2024 data, as those are the only available across the board for all companies. Most companies have not completed their 2024 financials. When they do this spring, T3 Sixty will publish its annual ranking of the industry’s largest brokerages, brands and enterprises.
1
Reffkin makes his debut as the most powerful leader in real estate based on Compass’s sustained brokerage dominance, which deepened significantly in 2024 with a late-year announcement of a pending acquisition of At World Properties, owner of the U.S.’s ninth largest brokerage in @properties and the global luxury real estate franchise brand Christie’s International Real Estate. Also in 2024, Compass, already the U.S.’s largest brokerage by annual sales volume, acquired large brokerages including Louisiana-based Latter and Blum and Tennessee-based Parks Realty. A proven, resilient and savvy industry leader, Reffkin also led Compass closer to profitability in 2024, and is playing a larger role in lending his voice to industry issues, such as the Clear Cooperation Policy.
2
Sanford continues to guide eXp World Holdings as owner of the U.S.’s largest brokerage by transaction sides in eXp Realty. The revenue-sharing system he developed has continued to catalyze his firm’s growth, while inspiring competitors to adopt similar programs. EXp had the highest net profit margin in 2024 through the first three quarters of any public brokerage company, buoyed by a $12.4 million second quarter net profit.
3
Schneider’s tenure at Anywhere Real Estate has been marked by a steady competence. This continued in 2024 with his ongoing refinement of Anywhere, the U.S.’s largest real estate company by sales volume, transaction sides and agent count, which produced profitable second and third quarters amid a down year in real estate. Entering his eighth year at the helm of Anywhere, he also used his voice this year to support the Clear Cooperation Policy, shared his company’s buyer agent forms for wide industry use and deepened his focus on his agents, franchisees and consumers.
4
Keller oversees the nation’s largest franchise brand, and second largest brokerage, based on 2023 agent count (157,642), transaction sides (850,462) and sales volume ($357.6 billion). In 2024, the company reached a profit-sharing milestone of distributing over $2 billion to agents. Keller Williams in February settled in the Sitzer-Burnett commissions case, leaving it free to focus on developing technology such as its chatbot for agents, which it released mid-year. With KW icon Mark Willis back as his CEO, Keller has more time to focus on where he has excelled for decades: devising and deploying strategies to grow his legendary company.
5
As CEO of HomeServices of America, Blefari leads the nation’s fourth largest brokerage with an agent count of more than 69,000 who did over $196 billion in 2023 annual sales. In June 2024, he also stepped into the CEO role for HSA’s franchise wing HSF Affiliates, which predominately oversees the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise brand. In spring 2024, the company — the last remaining defendant in the Sitzer-Burnett antitrust compensation case — settled for $250 million over the next four years.
6
Barton serves as the public face and the strategic dynamo behind Zillow Group, which remains the industry’s dominant portal company, with a monthly average of over 150 million unique visitors for much of 2024, more than double its nearest competitor, according to Similarweb data. The real estate media and tech company reported nearly $1.7 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2024, which included notable growth in its lead gen, mortgage and rentals divisions. Revenue in its residential division (its biggest), dominated by its Premier Agent business and its growing referral-based approach, grew over 8% in this period in 2024 over 2023. In 2024, he handed his CEO role to Jeremy Wacksman, but very much remains the firm’s mastermind.
7
Florance deepened his formidable company’s entree into residential real estate sales with continued, deep investments in Homes.com, which included a $1 billion marketing campaign and the roll-out of a subscription product for real estate agents. Through the third quarter, the portal has reported 11,000 agent subscribers and has recorded over $41 million in revenue, nearly as much as its full 2023 revenue total. He is putting more of Costar Group’s fuel into Homes.com, and he’s pressing down the gas pedal. This includes his active presence at industry events and in media and in the 2024 acquisition of significant virtual tour software in Matterport, which could significantly deepen and enrich Homes.com’s property data.
8
As president and CEO of Anywhere Brands, Yannaccone oversees the largest cadre of real estate brokerage brands in the world, including Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Corcoran Group. A respected and grounded leader in the industry, she has become the strong No. 2 at the nation’s largest real estate company, whose over 186,000 agents at company-owned and franchised offices do over $500 billion in annual sales.
9
As head of the US’s largest family-owned brokerage, third-generation company leader Hanna maintains a large, respected industry voice as the lead of a firm that harkens back to a previous industry era – when family-owned brokerages had more prominence among the industry’s largest firms. Howard Hanna, which operates in 13 states, ranks as the nation’s 13th largest firm by sales volume, with more than 10,000 agents doing $24.2 billion in annual sales. In 2024, the company continued its expansion with acquisitions of brokerages in Ohio and South Carolina.
10
Having rejoined Keller Williams Realty as CEO in November 2023 (after playing a vital role in the firm’s explosive growth from 2005 to 2015), Willis added the title of president in 2024. He is a respected voice in the industry, with a proven track record. In his leadership position, he plays a vital role in helping the Austin, Texas-based firm retain its industry franchise dominance. Keller Williams remains the U.S.’s largest franchise brand by sales volume ($357.6 million), agent count (157,642), and transaction sides (850,462).
11
Kelman is entering his 20th year leading Redfin, the nation’s 13th largest brokerage and the most popular real estate portal operated by a brokerage. Always a smart, thoughtful industry voice, he continued sharing his impassioned positions in opinion pieces through his company’s influential news and research division. In 2024, Kelman expanded a revamped agent-compensation plan, Redfin Next, aimed at attracting and retaining top agent talent with commission splits in lieu of just salaries. The company followed up in December with the nationwide launch of Redfin Teams, which extended the Next compensation model to a flexible platform for teams.
12
Soper serves as president of Canada’s largest real estate brokerage enterprise, Bridgemarq Real Estate Services, which owns and operates the brands Royal LePage, Via Capitale, Johnston & Daniel and Proprio Direct in Quebec, which it formally integrated in early 2024. The company, which serves more than 20,000 agents through its brokerage and franchise operations, launched an investment platform targeting individual real estate investors in 2024. The top executive at the largest Canadian real estate company since 2004, after he oversaw the restructure of Royal LePage into a publicly traded company under the Bridgemarq name, Soper remains among the most powerful leaders in real estate.
13
In his two years as executive vice president, Kelly has emerged as the clear No. 2 to the firm’s president and CEO Gino Blefari and the heir apparent for the nation’s fourth largest real estate enterprise by sales volume ($196 billion). He also plays a leadership role in HomeServices of America (HSA) brokerage Ebby Halliday Companies as executive chair. Before joining Ebby Halliday in 2018, he served as HSA’s senior counsel supporting acquisitions and technology initiatives.
14
Duffy leads a large real estate network in United Real Estate, which operates residential, country and auctioneering divisions. Its residential division operates with a fee-based business model with both company-owned and franchised offices. The firm remains one of the fastest-growing national brokerages. In 2024, it acquired real estate brokerages in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Alabama to continue its steady, methodical growth.
15
Wacksman took over the CEO spot from company co-founder Rich Barton in August 2024. As the company settles into its post-iBuying era, Wacksman has emerged as the person who will continue the firm’s vision to deepen its relationship with its massive audience to convert more of them into referrals for its partner agents and to capture more of those who do transact as customers of its mortgage business. He oversees the industry’s dominant portal in Zillow, which attracts approximately twice the number of visitors each month than real estate’s next most popular portal.
16
Pareja, who had been leading development and refinement of eXp Realty’s agent value proposition and its competitive positioning since 2022, became the firm’s CEO in April 2024. Drawing on more than two decades real estate experience, Pareja oversees one of the nation’s fastest growing cloud-based brokerages. Most recently he played a significant role in helping educate the industry to better navigate changes in the wake of the NAR settlement. He has played significant roles in the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and co-founded an East Coast private lending company and the MLS technology vendor Remine.
17
Starting 2024 as NAR’s new president after the January resignation of Tracy Kasper, Sears is expected to remain in his role until November 2025, remaining past the typical year-long president stint to help anchor the association amid its significant changes. With a new CEO, and NAR shaken with some scandal and ongoing legal and regulatory scrutiny, he has emerged as a steady voice and important leader for the U.S.’s largest association. In 2024, the 30-year real estate veteran sold his brokerage, Sears Real Estate, to Lamacchia Realty, where he holds a title as associate broker.
18
As the leader of one of the nation’s largest MLS, which has nearly 108,000 members, Carter is the country’s most powerful and influential MLS executive. Known as a clear, innovative leader, he has helped spearhead numerous MLS initiatives including the MLS data-monetization effort REdistribute. California Regional MLS also added the MLS Match referral platform to connect industry professionals nationwide and announced a reciprocal data access agreement for its subscribers and those of Bright MLS. Carter is an influential and powerful voice in the ongoing evolution of MLSs.
19
Donnellan leads the nation’s second largest MLS in Bright MLS, which serves the Mid-Atlantic region. Along with introducing new tech to support offer management and digital advertising for Bright’s 100,000 members, Donnellan also in 2024 brokered a reciprocal data access agreement with CRMLS, the nation’s largest MLS. He has previously helped spearhead a new data-monetization strategy for MLSs through the creation of REdistribute and public search portal Nestfully.
20
Poleg leads one of the nation’s 25 largest brokerages in Real, whose over 13,000 agents do more than $21 billion in annual sales. He has orchestrated rapid growth for the firm he-cofounded in 2014 by leveraging a revenue-sharing, capped model that incentivizes organic growth. In 2024, he oversaw the release of two new programs to further the firm’s growth with Private Label, which allows firms to retain their branding on Real’s platform, and ProTeams, which allows teams to customize payments programs to agents. The firm also launched a new luxury division, Real Luxury.
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