Residential brokerage heavyweight Compass is expanding again, bolstering its footprint in the Carolinas with the addition of three firms as the industry competes for fewer buyers at a time of elevated interest rates.
Compass added Bespoke Realty Group of Raleigh, North Carolina; Allocate Realty Group of Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Pierce Group of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for an undisclosed amount.
The expansion in the Carolinas "marks the beginning of a transformative journey for Compass in the region," Compass managing director Renee Smith said in a statement.
Compass is expanding as sales of existing U.S. homes have slowed, falling for the second consecutive month in April as buyers struggle with affordability concerns due partly to interest rates hovering above 7%. Analysts have said the higher rates have more buyers waiting on the sidelines, improving demand for multifamily owners.
Bespoke, founded by Cristine Allison, has seven agents. Allocate, started by Matthew and Leticia Moreira, has nine. The Pierce Group was founded by Liam and Tammi Pierce and has five agents.
The addition of Pierce gives Compass, based in New York City, a Myrtle Beach office and strengthens its presence in the mid-Atlantic, where it already has offices in Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia.
Compass has more than 300 offices and 28,000 agents serving 72 markets nationwide. It ranks as the largest U.S. brokerage based on its 2023 sales volume of $184.5 billion, according to RealTrends, a privately held data provider to the real estate industry.
Last month, Compass said it purchased Parks Real Estate, a 1,500-agent brokerage in Nashville, Tennessee. The firm also recently acquired Latter & Blum of New Orleans, with more than 1,600 agents.
In a May news release announcing first-quarter earnings, Compass founder and CEO Robert Reffkin said the brokerage will continue looking for expansion opportunities "as we successfully position Compass for what we believe will be significant upside when the market begins to recover."
In the first quarter, Compass posted revenue of $1.05 billion, up 10% from a year ago, and a net loss of $132.9 million, an improvement of $17.5 million from a year earlier.