Rockford real estate companies gain on ranking list despite sales drop

By Alex Gary

BusinessRockford.com

Two Rockford real estate companies reported significant declines in sales in 2007 yet moved up on a national ranking of the country’s largest real estate companies.

It’s evidence that while the real-estate market was tough in the Rock River Valley, it was worse in much of the rest of the United States.

Gambino Realtors Inc. of Rockford finished No. 341 on the Real Trends 500 list for 2008 based on the company’s 2007 “closed sides.” Each real-estate sale has two sides, a buyer and a seller. If a real estate company represented the buyer and seller in a deal, it received credit for two sides.

Gambino’s ranking went up three spots from 2007 even though its closed sides dropped 19.2 percent, from 1,821 closed sides in 2006 to 1,472 in 2007.

“I can’t say for certain, but I believe that some of the biggest firms that typically were in the top 500 made the list because they served booming markets, which have now gone bust,” said Jon Krause, president of Gambino Realtors Inc., which has 119 Realtors working at offices in Rockford, Belvidere and Roscoe. “In comparison, the ‘bread and butter’ Midwest has not experienced the ultra-highs, nor the deep declines, of the coastal markets.”

Of the top 25 companies on this year’s ranking, all reported sales declines from 2006 to 2007 — such as No. 22-ranked Coldwell Banker Bain Associates/Barbara Sue Seal Properties of Mercer Island, Wash., reporting a drop of 29.7 percent; John L. Scott Real Estate of Bellevue, Wash., saw sales tumble 24.9 percent, landing it the No. 12 spot; and Realty Executives of Phoenix, Ariz., which reported a 20.5 percent decline.

The only other Boone, Winnebago or Ogle County company to make the 2008 list was Coldwell Banker Premier of Rockford, which saw its ranking climb from No. 434 in 2007 to No. 409 on the 2008 list even though its closed sides fell 16.8 percent. Coldwell Banker Premier has 64 Realtors working at offices in Rockford, Roscoe and Belvidere.

Of course, having only two companies in the top 500 was a decline for the Rock River Valley. Last year, for the first time this decade, five companies made the list.

The Real Trends ranking is based on information voluntarily submitted by real estate companies. Three of them on the 2007 rankings — Dickerson & Nieman Realtors, Century 21 Country North and Whitehead Inc. Realtors did not submit their 2007 totals for various reasons. Whitehead Inc. officials said the company was installing a new computer system during the Real Trends deadline. Dickerson & Nieman, which broke the top 200 barrier for the first time in 2007, No. 198, had just completed the process of selling half of the company to developer Jeff Petry. Century 21 Country North chose not to participate this year, according to company officials.

Assistant Business Editor Alex Gary may be reached at agary@rrstar.com or at 815-987-1339.

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