SURVEY IS THE ANNUAL “WHO’S WHO” OF AMERICA’S LEADING BROKERAGES.

As the result of sales volume that topped more than $1.952 billion in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties, Michael Saunders & Company has captured the 55th spot on the newest Real Trends 500 Survey of the 500 top residential real estate brokerages in the U.S.

The company moved up from the 59th position in last year’s survey based on dollar volume that was up 32% over 2011; and was the only independent brokerage in Southwest Florida to gain entre onto the list. The survey’s results are based on closed residential sales throughout calendar 2012.

With the company’s 5,534 closed transaction “sides” amounting to a 22% improvement over 2011, Michael Saunders & Company also captured the 78th position among the top 500 companies based on unit volume.

“I am exceptionally proud of these results,” says company founder & CEO Michael Saunders. “By design, we do business along a particularly desirable swath of the Gulf Coast. So to achieve this level of volume in just three Southwest Florida counties is a testament to our decades of focused expertise in our home region. It also underscores the confidence buyers and sellers place in our agents; along with confirming the wholesale rejuvenation of our local real estate market.”

In the same survey, Michael Saunders & Company is ranked 14th among the top 50 companies showing the largest increase in closed dollar volume over the five-year period between 2008 to 2012. Similarly, it is ranked 31st among the top 50 companies that experienced the largest percentage increase (+132%) in closed transaction sides during the same five-year period.

With over $165 billion in closed volume for 2012, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) achieved the top ranking among international brokerage networks, based both on total transaction sides and dollar volume. The LeadingRE network—of which Michael Saunders & Company is the leading brokerage for Southwest Florida—consists of 500 independent companies, 4,600 offices and 140,000 sales associates in 35 countries. As such, it is responsible for exposing Southwest Florida properties to member brokerages and their buyers the world over.

REAL Trends, Inc. is a research, publishing and communication company located in Denver serving the information needs of the residential real estate industry. The REAL Trends 500 Survey is the result of a nationwide study of leading residential real estate companies conducted by REAL Trends, a recognized source for timely and useful real estate information. This year's survey represents the most comprehensive collection of data assembled on the leading firms with the residential brokerage industry. Numbers are documented by outside accounting firms.

“The recovery in housing sales was reflected in the results from the REAL Trends 500,” says REAL Trends editor Steve Murray. “There were a record number of firms that closed more than $1 billion in sales and over 1,000 units. Unit sales were up 15.3 percent overall; and total sales volume was up 20.7 percent. There were over 1,300 firms that qualified for either the REAL Trends 500 or the Up and Comer list. Many of the firms that had increased unit sales accomplished this through organic growth while merger activity remained slower than in years past. We expect acquisition activity to pick up, however, in the years to come as the market consolidates.”