In an earnings report May 1, RE/MAX Holdings, parent company of REMAX and Motto Mortgage, showed both ups and downs compared with the same quarter in 2024.
The numbers included a total revenue decrease of 4.9% to $74.5 million, a 2% total agent count increase to 146,126 agents and a decrease in open Motto Mortgage franchises of 7.8% to 224 offices. RE/MAX’s international agent count grew by over 10% in Q1.
The revenue decline marked the 11th straight quarter of decline, but the results met expectations from the previous quarter, when RE/MAX projected Q1 revenues to be between $71 million and $76 million.
The company has struggled to stem a loss of agents in domestic markets over the past couple years, and has also seen turnover at the leadership level, with President Amy Lessigner resigning in January after less than a year on the job, and COO Serene Smith’s role eliminated last summer.
“For the fourth consecutive quarter, our company delivered solid profit and margin performance,” Erik Carlson, RE/MAX Holdings CEO said. “We are continually elevating our value proposition, and this quarter we also introduced several new initiatives to help our affiliates win more listings, do so more efficiently, and profitably grow their businesses.
“2025 is an important year for RE/MAX Holdings and its brands. It’s a year of transition, continued building innovation, evolution and execution. Since I arrived, we’ve been working on improving the strength of our foundation—people, process, products and platforms.
“Broadly, the macroeconomic situation and the real estate market are clouded with uncertainty, including tariffs, rising inventory, what could happen with interest rates and even recent debate and change in industry policies.”
Carlson explained that some of RE/MAX’s recent strategic programs include refreshed dynamic branding, expanded access to productivity-boosting agent education, a user-friendly social influencer platform, new marketing resources, a comprehensive global referral system and an onboarding program called Aspire.
“Aspire combines world-class education, advanced technology solutions and financial incentives to support agents who are driven to greatness,” said Carlson. “We’re very excited about it for a host of reasons. It combines many of the foundational pieces we put in place last year, including improved technology and expansive customer feedback, enhanced analytics and leveraging the power of the network scale. Aspire has been specifically designed to attract promising recruits, increase agent productivity and through both recruiting and retention have a positive impact on agent count.”
On a conference call Friday morning, May 2, Carlson was asked by an investor about RE/MAX’s position on private listings, and mostly declined to take a specific stance, even as the investor noted that many “players” in the industry have “been anchoring themselves to one extreme or another.”
“We’re really steadfast on the side of standing for what’s best for the consumer and that consumer experience,” he said. “We’re standing for transparency in the broadest distribution of listings. We think that’s best for the vast majority of consumers who are trying to transact in real estate. That doesn’t mean that there are not times when a private listing is needed or being used. And we’ll be set up to help our brokers and agents with that process.
“Some of our brokers use their own private listing processes today, but the vast majority of transactions or listings should have the greatest distribution, and we’re really going to stand on the side of the consumer and the agent experience. We’re really thinking about the business long term, not for short-term profits or to try to win agent count by having special offers. We’re trying to build something special, building the foundation and building a long-term view on what’s best for brokers, agents and consumers.”
Q1 2025 highlights (Compared to Q1 2024 unless otherwise noted)
- Total revenue decreased 4.9% to $74.5 million
- Total agent count increased 2% to 146,126 agents
- Total open Motto Mortgage franchises decreased 7.8% to 224 offices
- U.S. and Canada combined agent count decreased 5% to 75,010 agents
- Revenue excluding the Marketing Funds decreased 4.3% to $55.6 million, driven by negative 3.2% organic growth and 1.1% adverse foreign currency movements
- Net loss attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. of $2 million and loss per diluted share (GAAP EPS) of $0.10
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 1.5% to $19.3 million, Adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.9% and adjusted earnings per diluted share (Adjusted EPS) of $0.24