R
esidential real‑estate markets are evolving rapidly. New technologies, fresh leadership, and innovative business models are reshaping how brokerages operate. The Swanepoel Trends Report, a staple of industry analysis since 2006, released its 2026 edition in November 2025, offering a deep dive into these shifts.
**Industry in Transition**
The 2026 report highlights several key forces: brokerage structures are transforming, the National Association of Realtors is redefining its strategy, artificial intelligence is becoming more pervasive, and legal challenges continue to affect major players. The first trend examined is the erosion of the traditional brokerage model.
**Decline of the Traditional Model**
Traditionally, brokerages split commissions with agents in ratios ranging from 90‑10 to 60‑40, depending on services. In 2025, only 53 of the U.S. top 100 brokerages still used this model—down from 72 in 2018—according to T3 Sixty’s Mega 1000 analysis. Newer frameworks—Capped, Fee‑Based, and Business Generation—have gained traction among the largest firms.
Despite their reduced numbers, traditional brokerages continue to generate higher absolute revenue margins for both the firm and its agents. Agents at Fee‑Based firms receive a larger share of gross commission income (GCI), but the higher average transaction values at traditional firms mean agents ultimately earn more in dollar terms.
**Revenue Analysis by Model**
T3 Sixty mapped each of the top 100 brokerages’ business models and applied average price points and average sides per agent to estimate earnings. Traditional firms lead with an average sale price of $892,242, while Business Generation firms sit at the lower end. When adjusting for price and sides, traditional brokerages yield the greatest revenue per agent, and their agents take home more than those at Capped or Fee‑Based firms. Business Generation models were excluded from this comparison due to their heavy in‑house operational costs. Note that the Capped model’s calculation omits supplemental income from revenue‑sharing and equity grants that some firms offer.
Across the largest brokerages, traditional firms earn more per transaction than their Capped or Fee‑Based counterparts. However, they also incur higher operating expenses, so profitability ratios may be closer than raw GCI figures suggest.
**Accessing the Full Report**
Digital and print copies of the 2026 Swanepoel Trends Report are available for purchase through T3 Trends. Real Estate News operates independently from T3 Sixty.
