What REAL Trends does

REAL Trends, operated by HW Media, LLC, is a U.S. residential real estate performance verification and ranking platform. Its flagship product, RealTrends Verified Rankings, independently verifies production data (transaction sides and sales volume) submitted by agents, teams, and brokerages — either directly or via bulk templates from 18 brand-partner franchises — and ranks the top 1.5% of residential real estate professionals nationally, by state, and by city. Founded in 1987 per firmographic records (the operating entity HW Media, LLC carries a 2006 copyright designation), the company is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and asserts 30 years of tracking residential real estate performance data. The 2026 program recognized over 50,000 agents and teams with $164.096 billion in tracked 2025 sales volume, up from ~$150 billion the prior year.

The platform is built on a verification methodology combined with subscription-based data downloads and promotional packages for ranked professionals. RealTrends integrates third-party market intelligence — notably an Altos Research feed providing median list prices, inventory, days on market, and Market Action Index at the state level — into ranking pages, and cross-promotes content through the affiliated HousingWire/HW Media real estate finance media network. Distribution is centered on the brand-partner ecosystem (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Compass, eXp Realty, Keller Williams, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Sotheby's International Realty, Corcoran, Engel & Völkers, and others), supplemented by direct-to-professional web access on realtrends.com.

RealTrends generates revenue through recurring data subscriptions, submission and verification fees for ranking inclusion, and premium promotional packages. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Customers span individual agents, organized real estate teams, and brokerages (both enterprise brands and independent firms), with the brand-partner channel serving as the primary go-to-market motion for bulk data ingestion and co-marketed rankings programs.

Name

REAL Trends

Legal name

HW Media, LLC

Website

https://realtrends.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Short description

RealTrends, operated by HW Media, LLC, provides independently verified rankings and performance data for U.S. residential real estate agents, teams, and brokerages. The RealTrends Verified platform ranks the top 1.5% of professionals using production data submitted through 18 major brand-partner franchises.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Rankings & Performance Analytics

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Real Estate (6500)

akta.pro primary industry

Traditional Residential Brokerage (Existing Homes) (BPAJAAAA)

Keywords

• Real estate rankings
• Performance verification
• Residential brokerage analytics
• Agent benchmarking
• Real estate data subscriptions

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Data Subscriptions and Rankings Access: RealTrends generates revenue through data subscription services, rankings access, and premium placement in verified rankings. RealTrends.com provides online subscriptions to monthly magazine content and data subscription services.
2. Submission and Verification Fees: Revenue generated from submission fees for agents, teams, and brokerages seeking inclusion in verified rankings programs. Refund policy noted for submissions before rankings publication.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RealTrends Verified is a residential real estate performance rankings and data platform that independently verifies and ranks the top 1.5% of U.S. agents, teams, and brokerages based on transaction sides and sales volume. The company operates a searchable national, state, and city-level rankings platform along with subscription-based data download services and promotional packages for ranked professionals. Founded in 2006 under HW Media, LLC with a 30-year operating track record in real estate performance analytics.

Product overview

RealTrends Verified is a real estate ranking and research platform that analyzes Brokerage, Team, and Agent performance data to spotlight the top 1.5% of real estate professionals. The platform consists of RealTrends Verified Rankings as the core product, with sub-products covering Agent and Team Rankings (individuals, small teams, medium teams, large teams, mega teams, enterprise teams) and Brokerage Rankings (including the Billionaires' Club for brokerages over $1B in volume, 500 by Sides, 500 by Volume, and Top Movers categories). Additional offerings include Data Downloads for subscription-based access to real estate performance data and Promo Packages for marketing verified achievements. The company has been tracking and analyzing real estate performance data for 30 years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RealTrends Verified Rankings Comprehensive ranking platform that independently verifies and ranks the top 1.5% of U.S. residential real estate professionals based on transaction sides and sales volume, with national, state, and city-level coverage for individual agents, teams (small, medium, large, mega, enterprise), and brokerages. Includes The Thousand (top 1,000), America's Best Real Estate Professionals, RealTrends Verified Top Agent, RealTrends Verified Top Team, and RealTrends Verified Best Brokerages recognition programs.
• Data Downloads Subscription-based data service providing downloadable real estate performance data for brokerages, agents, and teams. Available through RealTrends.com under recurring subscription pricing.
• Promo Packages Marketing and promotional add-on packages available for ranked agents and brokerages to highlight their verified rankings badges and achievements; available as add-on services to the ranking submission.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50,000 real estate agents and teams recognized in 2026 rankings
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Berkshire Hathaway HomeServicesflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor real estate brand partner enabling bulk data submissions for their agent network. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties agents regularly featured in RealTrends Verified The Thousand rankings with 2,100+ associates across 41 offices and $12.4 billion in sales volume.
• CompassflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor technology-enabled real estate brokerage brand partner. Compass led 2025 rankings by sales volume at $231.04 billion and recorded the largest one-year volume increase of $46.59 billion. Compass application includes 2025 production from acquired brands.
• eXp RealtyflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerCloud-based real estate brokerage brand partner. eXp Realty topped transaction sides with 350,119 and showed the highest five-year volume growth at $80.46 billion in 2025 rankings.
• Keller WilliamsflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor real estate franchise brand partner with extensive agent network participating in RealTrends Verified rankings.
• RE/MAXflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerEstablished real estate franchise brand partner enabling agent participation in rankings. Multiple RE/MAX teams and agents featured prominently in state and national rankings.
• Coldwell BankercoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor real estate franchise brand partner participating in RealTrends Verified rankings program.
• Century 21coreGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate franchise brand partner. Jose Perez and Associates under Century 21 Allstars earned 2026 Verified Top Agent distinction.
• Sotheby's International RealtycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLuxury real estate brand partner. 32 affiliated agents ranked among top 250 individuals by sales volume in 2026 RealTrends Verified + The Thousand rankings. TTR Sotheby's International Realty recognized in rankings.
• Altos ResearchcoreTechnology or IntegrationData partnership providing real-time market intelligence integrated into RealTrends ranking pages. Altos provides Market Action Index (MAI), median list prices, inventory data, and days on market metrics for state-level market summaries.
• CorcorancoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLuxury real estate brand partner participating in RealTrends Verified rankings.
• Engel & VölkerscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal real estate brand partner participating in RealTrends Verified rankings program.
• SideminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate technology platform brand partner in RealTrends ecosystem.
• United Real EstateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate franchise brand partner in RealTrends brand partner network.
• RedfinminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTechnology-enabled real estate brokerage brand partner in the RealTrends ecosystem.
• ERA Real EstateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate franchise brand partner in RealTrends brand partner network.
• Exit RealtyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate franchise brand partner in RealTrends brand partner network.
• Next HomeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate franchise brand partner in RealTrends brand partner network.
• Leading Real EstateminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate referral network brand partner in RealTrends ecosystem.
• RealminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReal estate brand partner in RealTrends ecosystem.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• HousingWire: Sister brand under the same parent HW Media, LLC, covering real estate news, data, and industry intelligence. Highly comparable because it shares ownership and the same B2B real estate professional audience, and overlapping content/distribution channels.
• Zillow Group: Consumer-facing real estate marketplace with agent advertising, Premier Agent rankings, and a large real estate data and analytics business. Comparable as a real estate data and agent-discovery platform with overlapping rankings/recognition and broader B2B and B2C reach.
• Realtor.com (Move, Inc.): Major US residential real estate listings and data platform operated by Move, Inc. Comparable because it serves real estate professionals with lead generation, agent rankings, and market data alongside consumer-facing listings.
• CoreLogic: Large-scale property data and analytics provider serving MLSs, lenders, brokerages, and agents with US residential real estate intelligence. Comparable as a B2B real estate data vendor, though at meaningfully larger scale and broader scope than RealTrends.
• Redfin: Technology-enabled residential brokerage and real estate data platform, also listed as a RealTrends brand partner. Comparable because it operates at the intersection of brokerage, data, and agent performance benchmarking in the residential market.

Direct peers

• Inman: Real estate industry media and news platform serving agents, teams, and brokerages with rankings, awards (Inman Best of), and industry intelligence. Direct peer because both target residential real estate professionals with editorial content, rankings, and recognition programs.
• The Real Deal: Real estate industry media and rankings platform with coverage of top agents, brokerages, and deals. Comparable as a B2B real estate media outlet with rankings and audience targeting real estate professionals.
• RISMedia: Real estate industry news and data publisher with the 'RISMedia Power Broker' and 'Newsmaker' recognition programs targeting top agents and brokerages. Directly comparable because both monetize rankings, recognition, and verified performance data in the residential brokerage market.

Emerging players

• Tom Ferry International: Real estate coaching, training, and agent-performance content provider serving individual agents and teams. Comparable as a B2B services provider monetizing agent productivity and performance improvement in the residential brokerage ecosystem.
• Altos Research: Real estate market data and analytics provider, currently integrated as a data partner into RealTrends ranking pages. Comparable as a real estate data vendor serving agents, brokerages, and investors with market intelligence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/realtrends
• Facebookfacebook.com/realtrends
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/real-trends-and-murray-consulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about REAL Trends