After being excluded from RISMedia’s 34th Annual Power Broker Report for incorporating commercial transaction data in its reported totals for 2021, Compass has since submitted to RISMedia verified residential-only numbers for the year:
2021 residential sales volume: $251,019,336,511
2021 residential transactions: 224,067
Number of offices: 501
Number of agents: 26,257
Compass had previously submitted a sales volume total of $254.2B for 2021, however, a representative of the brokerage confirmed to RISMedia that this figure included commercial data. RISMedia’s Power Broker Report ranks brokers by residential production data only, making Compass’ original submission inadmissible.
The firm’s revised residential sales volume now puts Compass in the No. 1 spot by sales volume in the Power Broker Report, edging out Realogy’s $246B total 2021 sales volume. HomeServices of America retains the No. 1 ranking by transactions, totaling 388,098 for the year. The release of RISMedia’s Power Broker Report, including the ranking of the Top 1,000 Power Brokers by both sales volume and transactions, will go live April 1 at rismedia.com.
In the spirit of ‘transparency’
Compass’ decision to break out its residential data for the Power Broker Report came after RISMedia previewed the Top 50 Power Brokers last week—minus Compass.
“Interest in Compass has grown almost as rapidly as our business,” said a Compass spokesperson. “While this wasn’t a figure we had shared in the past, we’re always willing to update our policies to satisfy this interest and provide more transparency.”
The addition of Compass’ residential sales volume for 2021 brings the collective sales volume of the Top 1,000 Power Brokers to more than $2.4T for the year, a nearly $800B increase over 2020.
Other industry rankings have now updated their reports with Compass’ revised residential numbers as well.
But what about the losses?
Despite residential sales volume that now puts it at the top of the 2022 Power Broker Ranking, Compass still suffered a $175M net loss in Q4 of 2021 and $494 million on the year, as detailed during its earnings report earlier this year. According to Compass, however, that doesn’t provide a complete picture of the company’s financial health.
“Most of this number is a non-cash expense to account for stock-based compensation, meaning Compass did not lose $500 million in cash in 2021,” says the Compass spokesperson. “We are a company still investing in growth and expansion, and we were profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis in 2021.”
Like all Power Brokers, Compass’ significant increases in 2021 are a byproduct of last year’s historically hot real estate market. The company also attributes its success to a commitment “to treat agents like customers.”
“We have a culture of collaboration and hard work helps us get a little bit better every day,” said the Compass spokesperson. “That’s how we were able to achieve such incredible results last year and that’s how we’ll continue to grow as a company.”
See the full results of RISMedia’s 34th Annual Power Broker Survey in the forthcoming 2022 Power Broker Report, including our ranking of the Top 1,000 brokerage firms by both sales volume and transactions, exclusive research on market conditions and in-depth insights from dozens of the country’s leading brokers.
Maria Patterson is RISMedia’s executive editor. Email her your real estate news ideas to maria@rismedia.com.
