Local Real Estate Firm Makes REAL Trends 500 List

According to a recent research report produced by REAL Trends, the 500 largest residential real estate brokerage firms in the nation - including Alpharetta's ERA Sunrise Realty - controlled just over 2 million residential sales transactions in 2012. 

According to REAL Trends, the transactions represent close to 29.8 percent of all new and resale transactions completed by brokers during the year. Yet, the REAL Trends 500 represented less than three-fifths of one percent of all brokerage firms. The 500 mega-brokers closed 2,290,269 home transactions with a value of over $624 billion during 2012.

ERA Sunrise Realty, which is headquartered in Canton, but has an Alpharetta office, ranked number 283 in the REAL Trends 500 with 2007 residential transaction sides closed last year.

"The recovery in housing sales was reflected in the results from the REAL Trends 500," says REAL Trends editor Steve Murray. "There were a record number of firms that closed more than $1 billion in sales and over 1,000 units. Unit sales were up 15.3 percent overall and total sales volume was up 20.7 percent.  There were over 1,300 firms that qualified for either the REAL Trends 500 or the Up and Comer list.  Many of the firms that had increased unit sales accomplished this through organic growth while merger activity remained slower than in years past. We expect acquisition activity to pick up, however, in the years to come as the market consolidates."

The 2013 REAL Trends 500 is a compilation of a nationwide study of leading residential real estate companies conducted by REAL Trends.

This year's REAL Trends survey represents the most comprehensive collection of data assembled on the leaders of the residential brokerage industry. Numbers are documented by outside accounting firms.