iPro Realty recently acquired more than 600 salespeople and three locations from Toronto-based Kingsway Real Estate.
The acquisition makes iPro Realty the second largest real estate brokerage in Ontario, with more than 1,700 salespeople. It’s a sign that the industry is “moving towards mega-brokerages, which offer competitive rates and improved services to salespeople,” says iPro Realty co-founder and CEO Rui Alves.
“In 2010 when iPro became independent, the GTA had only four brokerages with 500+ agents and two brokerages with 1,000+ agents. By the end of 2018, that number has grown to over 15 brokerages with 500+ agents and eight with 1,000+ agents,” he says.
For 23 years iPro Realty operated as a franchised brand before going independent in 2010. Alves and founding partner Fedele Colucci have “purposely avoided franchising and because of this, has achieved a crucial competitive edge,” the company says in a news release. All branches are corporately owned.
The company says that during the past decade, the top five national real estate brands in the GTA have lost 15 per cent of combined market share. It says that “most buyers and sellers are not focused on franchise brand loyalty, but more so on their relationship with their agent and will follow them if they switch brokerages. As a result, many agents are now making the move to independent brokerages, allowing them to save on large franchise fees (and in turn, invest in their own brand and clients).”
Update (April 4, 2019): The headline on this story was changed to more accurately reflect the acquisition. The story was changed to omit some information about Kingsway that the company says is inaccurate.
