HousingWire acquires real estate brokerage rankings firm

Real Trends is well known for its annual reports

HW Media founder and CEO Clayton Collins and Real Trends President Steve Murray (Photos via HW Media and Real Trends)
HW Media founder and CEO Clayton Collins and Real Trends President Steve Murray (Photos via HW Media and Real Trends)

HW Media, the publisher of real estate news website HousingWire, has acquired rankings firm Real Trends.

The acquisition, which was announced Thursday, means HousingWire will be responsible for putting out Real Trends’ popular brokerage reports, including Real Trends 500 and The Thousand. The company said in a statement that its methodology would not change.

“Real Trends is an incredibly strategic acquisition for our organization that not only accelerates our presence with real estate agents and brokers across the U.S., but also brings new capabilities to HW,” said HW Media CEO Clayton Collins.

Steve Murray, the president of Real Trends, is going to stay on in a “senior advisory” role, according to Inman.

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Talks between the pair started a year ago but stalled when the pandemic hit, the publication reported. Collings and Murray picked things up again in August.

“Their publication philosophy was very similar to ours,” Murray said of HousingWire. “Which is: Report the facts and the stories as accurately as you can and let the chips fall where they may.”

[Housing Wire, Inman] — Sylvia Varnham O’Regan