Howard Hanna Real Estate Services closed a huge deal late Tuesday, announcing a strategic partnership with Rand Realty, giving the massive independent brokerage a sizable foothold in the booming suburbs of New York City.
The financial terms of the deal, which will see Rand Realty shed its Better Homes & Gardens affiliation, weren’t disclosed.
The acquisition will make Howard Hanna Real Estate Services the largest home-seller in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, Howard “Hoddy” Hanna III, chairman of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The deal for Rand Realty – the top real estate brokerage in the Greater Hudson Valley with over $2 billion in sales volume in 2019 – gives Howard Hanna another top-producing shop in one of the fastest-growing markets in the country, one that’s been driven primarily by buyers leaving New York City.
Howard Hanna | Rand Realty will be competing against some of the nation’s richest, most entrenched brokerages in the New York and New Jersey area. Compass has gradually eaten up marketshare over the years, Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices has clout, Houlihan Lawrence remains tops in Westchester, and even the Corcoran Group has made a move for the Hudson Valley.
The Rand family will continue managing the new firm, which also has a commercial arm and a title services business.
“At Howard Hanna, we’ve been on a focused growth strategy since the early 2000s,” Hanna said in a statement. “Our plan has always been to partner with like-minded brokerage firms where we believe two cultures and philosophies can mesh and blend together.”
Over the last few years, Howard Hanna has splashy made moves, such as partnering with CoreLogic in 2016, merging with RealtyUSA in 2017 and buying 1st Priority Mortgage. It also picked up Allen Tate in North Carolina in 2018, allowing it to capitalize on growth in the Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte areas.
Rand Realty, whose franchise agreement with Better Homes & Gardens was close to expiry, is certainly no slouch, either. The firm, with over 1,000 resi agents, sold over 6,000 homes across New York and New Jersey last year, according to Real Trends.
Howard Hanna meanwhile registered a closed sales volume of over $5 billion in 2019, selling over 29,000 homes in New York state. Across its multiple regions, its sales volume totaled more than $22 billion, and it sold over 100,000 houses.
