RE/MAX BY THE NUMBERS 2020

Twelve months ago, the real estate industry braced itself for the worst as the country was thrown into a hard lockdown. For months, the deeds offices were shut down and real estate was not classified to operate until Alert Level 3. In face of these hardships, RE/MAX SA saw a phenomenal recovery as soon as restrictions eased and allowed real estate to return to business as somewhat unusual, as the latest RE/MAX By The Numbers Report shows. 

“None of us could have predicted that the initial two-week lockdown would turn into a series of varying restriction levels implemented over the course of twelve months and beyond. Similarly, nobody in the industry could have predicted the increased levels of activity within the property market that followed the months of hard lockdown,” says Regional Director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, Adrian Goslett.

To provide an example of this increased activity, Goslett explains that the brand’s website traffic increased by 31% compared to the previous year. “In 2020 alone, our brand sold over 14,000 homes and assisted over 40,600 families. Amid the pandemic, RE/MAX of Southern Africa also grew by 173 sales associates and opened 5 new offices to service this increased demand.”

RE/MAX of Southern Africa now has over 2,600 agents operating from over 160 offices, servicing over 4,000 suburbs, and licensed in five countries in Southern Africa. Internationally, RE/MAX has more than 135,000 sales associates that operate in over 110 countries and territories.

“When the pandemic first started, we relied heavily on the support from our global network. For example, our partners from RE/MAX Italy, who had been one of the first to be hit by the pandemic, shared resources and advice to help us put policies and procedures in place as the various restrictions were rolled out,” Goslett explains.

Being ready and equipped helped the brand better support its agents who, at the end of the day, were responsible for the record-breaking sales month the brand concluded during the last three months of 2020.

“Our top 100 agents earned an average of R2.5 million each in commission last year, which is phenomenal considering that for basically three months, they were unable to conclude a single sale,” he remarks.

Understanding that not every industry was recovering as well as the real estate industry, the brand continued to focus on supporting local communities by raising funds through its non-profit organisation, The RE/MAX Foundation. 

“In 2020 alone, despite everyone’s hardships, we were still able to raise R650,000 through our Foundation. Since its inception in 2012, over R6,000,000 has been raised towards the RE/MAX Foundation – a registered public benefit organization (PBO) whose main beneficiaries include The Reach For A Dream Foundation, Sporting Chance, and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital,” Goslett explains.

“While the real estate industry recovered well in 2020, I do believe that 2021 is going to be a challenging year for many South Africans. In preparation for the coming hardships, we are running multiple Certified Distressed Property Training courses throughout the year to ensure that our agents are best equipped to help those who are facing financial difficulties. My hope is that the delivery of the vaccine will help restore economic activity so that we can limit the amount of financial distress caused by the ongoing battle against the pandemic,” Goslett concludes. 

To learn more about joining RE/MAX, contact your nearest RE/MAX Office.