Real estate transaction volume remains stuck near historic lows nationwide, but growth kept climbing at one of the industry’s fastest-growing brokerages heading into a vote on its biggest deal yet.
The Real Brokerage (Nasdaq: REAX) reported second-quarter revenue of $700.6 million, up 30 percent year over year, in results announced Aug. 6. The report lands eight days before Real’s securityholders are scheduled to vote on the company’s pending acquisition of REMAX, a deal expected to close in the second half of 2026.
Q2 financial highlights
The company reported a GAAP net loss of $8 million for the quarter, compared with net income of $1.6 million in the same period last year. The loss included $11.6 million in costs tied to the pending REMAX acquisition. Excluding those costs, operating income would have more than doubled year over year, according to the earnings release.
Gross margin fell to 8.3 percent from 8.9 percent a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Ravi Jani attributed the decline to a shift in transaction mix toward capped agents, who made up 42 percent of closed transaction volume, up 300 basis points year over year, and carry lower brokerage margin under the company’s revenue-sharing structure.
Ravi Jani
Real ended the quarter with $86.6 million in cash and short-term investments and no debt, a record for the company.
REMAX merger update
Real’s securityholders are scheduled to vote on the REMAX acquisition Aug. 14. The company has already cleared the required antitrust review, and the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending approval from both companies’ shareholders.
Under the terms of the agreement, Real will form a new holding company, expected to be renamed Real REMAX Group, which will continue trading on the Nasdaq under the REAX ticker.
“We look forward to bringing together REMAX’s iconic global brand and network of over 140,000 agents with Real’s technology platform as the Real REMAX Group, and to building the technology-enabled real estate platform of the future together,” Chief Executive Officer Tamir Poleg said in a statement.
Poleg described the acquisition in similar terms on the earnings call: “REMAX brings an iconic global brand, highly productive agents and franchise owners with deep local market expertise. Real brings a modern, AI-enabled technology platform, a differentiated economic model, and a track record of innovation and disciplined execution.”
Chief Operating Officer Jenna Rozenblat, who is also serving as chief integration officer for the transaction, said the company has established an integration management office and engaged third-party advisors ahead of the anticipated closing.
Jenna Rozenblat
“Success won’t be measured by how quickly we change things,” Rozenblat said on the call. “It will be measured by how effectively we strengthen the combined platform while preserving the relationships and culture that have made both successful.”
Real is targeting $30 million in cost synergies within three years of closing, according to the earnings release.
Poleg also said the REMAX announcement has driven agent interest from outside the combined network: “The announcement of the REMAX deal definitely gave us some tailwinds in terms of agents reaching, teams reaching out and contemplating joining Real.”
Since the deal was announced, purported REMAX stockholders have filed demand letters and two shareholder complaints in New York state court alleging the merger proxy statement omitted material information, according to an Aug. 6 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The complaints seek to block the transaction or recover damages if it closes.
Real and REMAX have denied the allegations and said no further disclosure is legally required.
Agent and transaction growth
Real’s agent count reached 35,348 at the end of the quarter, up 26 percent year over year, and has since climbed past 36,000 as of Aug. 5, according to the company.
Closed transactions totaled 62,380 for the quarter, up 27 percent year over year, outpacing growth in the broader U.S. and Canadian housing markets, according to the earnings release. Total transaction value reached $26.3 billion, up 31 percent.
Combined revenue from Real’s ancillary businesses — title, mortgage and Real Wallet — grew 28 percent year over year to $4.2 million, with Real Wallet revenue up 140 percent.
Historical context
The results mark a reversal from Real’s first-quarter performance. In that report, released May 7, Real posted 32 percent year-over-year revenue growth to $465.6 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter was $14.9 million, up 80 percent year over year, and the company ended the quarter with $62.9 million in cash.
Second-quarter Adjusted EBITDA growth, by contrast, slowed to 38 percent year over year even as the dollar total nearly doubled from the first quarter, reflecting typical seasonal strength in the spring and summer selling season.
Real’s third-quarter outlook calls for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA to decline sequentially from the second quarter, consistent with normal seasonal patterns in residential real estate, with gross margin also lower year over year. The company said it plans to provide combined-company guidance for 2027 on its next earnings call in November, assuming the REMAX transaction has closed by then.
