After maintaining modest sales volume growth during the first half of 2022, Keller Williams fell victim to the strengthening headwinds that co-founder Gary Keller spent the third quarter preparing his agents for.
The Texas-based franchisor’s annual transaction volume, new listings, projected closings and written contract volume decreased for the fourth-consecutive quarter, while the sales volume decreased for the first time (-3 percent YoY to $341.8B) since the housing market began taking a turn.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, Keller Williams agents in the U.S. and Canada closed 12.6 percent fewer transactions (884,500) and listed 7.7 percent fewer homes (536,700). Agents also experienced a 13.9 percent decline in written contracts (i.e. projected closings); with the volume for those contracts dropping 4.7 percent year over year to $414.7 billion.
As a privately-owned company, Keller Williams is not required to share its revenue, profits or losses in earnings reports such as the one released Thursday, as a previous Inman article explained. If the franchisor chooses to go public in the future, it will be required to report those statistics.
Marc King
Keller Williams President Marc King said leadership is disappointed with the decline in annual sales volume, but confident in their ability to help agents and brokers navigate a tightening market.
“While we are less than pleased to report our sales volume is down by a low single-digit percentage year to date, there’s immense opportunity in this market for our agents,” King said in a statement Thursday. “And we are leaning into our powerful culture, training and technology to enable our agents to map a growth trajectory for their businesses based on the new math required by this market.”
“We have moved from a speed-based market to a skill-based market,” he added. “Lead conversion rates from months back are no longer applicable to find those motivated to transact in this market.”
Despite the slowdown, Keller Williams added 1,711 net agents, with 177,377 agents operating in the United States and Canada and another 17,076 agents operating in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Although Keller Williams struggled stateside, KW Worldwide President William E. Soteroff said the brokerage’s business model has stoked healthy global growth. From Jan.1 to Sept. 30, KWW agents closed 56,000 transactions (+23.5 percent) worth $11.1 billion (+29.8 percent).
“Our proprietary systems and models, training and technology are a powerful combination that has attracted more than 17,000 international agents to the Keller Williams brand,” he said. “The continued rapid pace of our multinational growth fulfills a dream that started with Gary Keller nearly 40 years ago — for entrepreneurs across the globe to thrive at KW.”
Sajag Patel | Credit: KW
Chief Operating Officer Sajag Patel said the company will continue to invest in training, technology, and adding new agent and business communities to maintain a strong retention rate as Keller Williams braces for continued headwinds.
“As we face increasing macroeconomic headwinds, we are preparing for what we expect to be a slower growth period, he said. “Yet, our value proposition in training and coaching is specifically geared to enable our agents to take more market share during economic shifts.”
“To embrace the market of the moment in Q3 ’22, we purposely launched four new business communities as agents are wanting a greater sense of connection, empowerment and impact,” he added. “Developed in partnership with agents, communities are one more way we’re enabling entrepreneurs to thrive in this fast-shifting market.”
