Anywhere revenue inches up despite ‘weird’ housing market 

Despite turbulent housing market conditions and economic headwinds, Anywhere shared a largely positive earnings report on July 29 and signaled optimism about the remainder of the year. 

Revenue inched up 1% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, and the company moved back into the black with net profits of $27 — down slightly year-over-year, but a significant improvement from the net loss of $78 million reported in Q1. 

What Anywhere had to say

When speaking with investors about the company's second-quarter results, Anywhere Real Estate CEO Ryan Schneider described the nation's housing market as "weird," citing the extreme differences in conditions between geographic regions. New York City, for instance, outperformed last quarter, "delivering double-digit growth in both units and price," while Florida witnessed a double-digit dip in sales volume. 

While some markets are correcting or seeing prices decline, Schneider said that overall, "the talk of prices falling is a little overstated." 

On luxury performance: Schneider highlighted the recent successes of Anywhere's two higher-end brands, noting that the July open volume for Corcoran was up about 20% while Sotheby's International Realty was up 13%. 

"Luxury delivered 3.5% year-over-year volume growth in the quarter and about 8% year-over-year growth in the first half," Schneider told investors. "We obviously love this higher margin, high-impact segment."

That segment added 13 U.S. franchisees and three international markets during the second quarter, increasing the company's presence in "key growth markets" like California, North Carolina and Georgia, the company said. Growth has been a theme for Anywhere, with leaders in May saying the company was ready to take advantage of "a growth moment in the industry."

On the future of private listings: Schneider noted that Anywhere sells around 6% of its listings privately but reiterated his belief that "the vast majority of people should have a broad distribution of listings."

Still, similar to his statements during Anywhere's Q1 and Q4 2024 earnings calls, Schneider said the company is prepared to "turn on private listings" for agents and sellers "if the market goes that way."

On agent retention: Schneider described retention of "productive agents" as being "near record levels," particularly with luxury brands, he said, calling it "rarified air." Anywhere Advisors agent retention was nearly 95% among the top half of productive agents, and the brokerage recruited 625 productive agents in the quarter, he said.

Key numbers

Revenue: $1.7 billion, an increase of $13 million year-over-year (1%), and up from $1.2 billion in Q1.

Cash and cash equivalents: $266 million at the end of Q2 — up from $110 million at the end of Q1. Free cash flow was negative $5 million.

Net income/loss: The company posted a net income of $27 million, down 10% year-over-year but a significant improvement over its net loss of $78 million the previous quarter.

Operating EBITDA: $133 million, down from $143 million during the same period a year ago. 

Transactions: 186,970 home sale sides for Anywhere Brands, a decrease of 4% year-over-year. Anywhere Advisors closed 69,479 sides, down 3%. Average sale prices for each group were up by equal percentages, however.

Agent commissions: The company said it had more than 300,000 affiliated agents globally, with an average broker commission rate of 2.41% for Anywhere Brands (nearly flat year-over-year) and an average rate of 2.38% for Anywhere Advisors, up slightly from 2.36% during the same period a year ago. 

Notable moves

Anywhere announced two executive appointments in recent months with the addition of former Side president Steve Capezza as senior vice president of growth and M&A and business executive Barri Rafferty as chief communications officer and head of public affairs.