As an independent, we believe we can be more responsive and better serve our agents and our clients.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 19, 2011
Chicago real estate brokerage firm @properties continues to move up the list of the nation’s largest real estate companies, ranking 35th in the latest REAL Trends Top 500 Report. The report was released earlier this month at the REAL Trends annual conference. This third-party survey is widely recognized as the leading study of its kind.
@properties, the largest residential broker in the city of Chicago and the third largest in Northern Illinois based on sales volume, had annual sales of $2.065 billion on 5,120 transaction sides in 2010. The firm climbed five spots in the national ranking and its sales volume increased 15.9 percent from 2009, a larger percentage increase than all but 10 of the nation’s top 50 firms.
@properties was founded 11 years ago by real estate brokers Michael Golden and Thaddeus Wong. Today, the firm has 7 offices and more than 950 real estate agents serving the greater Chicagoland market.
“We saw strong sales activity in the first half of the year, especially downtown, thanks to the homebuyer tax credit. And we made some really nice gains on the North Shore in the second half of the year with the opening of our Winnetka office,” said Golden.
@properties has grown to more than 100 agents on the North Shore since entering the market through Evanston in late 2009. With the opening of its Winnetka office, @properties’ North Shore market share grew by more than 240 percent in 2010.
“Over the past year and a half, we’ve answered a lot of naysayers who said that a new company with new ideas would struggle to gain ground in an established market like the North Shore. What we felt and what we found was that a lot of agents, home buyers and sellers were yearning for a more innovative approach,” said Wong.
While consolidations and acquisitions drove much of the growth among the nation’s largest real estate firms during the recession, @properties has grown organically and remains an independent, locally-owned company.
“As an independent, we believe we can be more responsive and better serve our agents and our clients,” said Wong. “If we want to fund new marketing programs, invest in training or technology, or open new offices, we control our own destiny.”
About @properties
Established in 2000, @properties is a Chicago real estate firm offering residential brokerage; commercial brokerage; development sales and marketing; relocation; property management; and institutional services for distressed and REO assets. The company has over 950 licensed agents in seven city and North Shore Chicago locations: Winnetka, Evanston, Bucktown, Lincoln Park, River North, Streeterville and Lakeview. For more information, visit http://www.atproperties.com.
About REAL Trends, Inc.
REAL Trends, Inc. is a real estate consulting and communications company considered to be a leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage industry. REAL Trends is based in Castle Rock, Colorado.
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