One real estate brokerage lags behind others in Chicago area growth

Coldwell Banker Realty sales rose during the record real estate market, though not nearly as much as other brokerages in Chicago.

Coldwell's Ayoub Rabah (Chicago Association of Realtors, iStock) 
Coldwell's Ayoub Rabah (Chicago Association of Realtors, iStock) 

One of the Chicago area’s biggest real estate brokerages couldn’t keep up with the growth of its competitors.

Coldwell Banker Realty still increased its sales as the real estate market boomed, though much less than other brokerages in Chicago, according to a report by Crain’s.

The Chicago group for the New Jersey-based company grew its sales volume 10.5 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to RealTrends 500, an annual list of brokerages conducted by HW Media, a Colorado-based real estate consulting firm.

Ayoub Rabah, president of Coldwell Banker Realty in the central west division, told Crain’s in a statement that the company is proud of its “organic, sustainable, double-digit growth.”

In the Chicago area, home sales were up 29 percent in dollar volume during the same time period, according to Midwest Real Estate Data.

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Brokerage dollar volumes can be misleading, however, since both buyers’ and sellers’ get credit for the same sale.

Three major brokerages in Chicago increased their volume by 20 percent or more: @Properties, Baird & Warner and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago. Sales as @Properties grew by 26.2 percent and Baird & Warner by 20.9 percent. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago was the brokerage with the biggest increase in sales volume, at almost 28 percent, or a little over $1 billion. @Properties has the region’s highest sales volume with $16.62 billion in Chicago-area sales.

Compass, another heavy hitter in the Chicago market, didn’t provide data for the Chicago area in its report to RealTrends, and Compass’ Chicago-area executives declined to provide any data to Crain’s.

[Crain’s] — Miranda Davis

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