Realogy transactions jump 29 percent in Q3

Realogy Holdings, the public real estate conglomerate whose brands include the Corcoran Group, Citi Habitats and Sotheby’s International Realty, saw a 29 percent jump in its volume of home sale transactions year-over-year, the firm reported in its third quarter regulatory filings.

Third-quarter revenue climbed 21 percent to $1.55 billion from $1.28 billion, while its income was $150 million, the company said. NRT, the parent company of Corcoran and Citi Habitats, saw a more modest 17 percent gain in home sale transactions. NRT’s average home sale price was $476,000, nearly double the national average and 8 percent more than in the same period in 2012.

“While industry observers anticipated that the mortgage rate environment would slow the housing recovery, we now believe the exact opposite occurred — it accelerated,” Realogy CEO Richard Smith said in a statement. “In our view, the strong volume increase was driven by a combination of pent-up demand, relatively low inventory and a shift in homebuyer preference to purchase existing homes over new homes due to the ability to lock in mortgage rates for the shorter period it takes to close on an existing home purchase over a new home.” — Mark Maurer