Swanepoel Power 200
The Swanepoel Power 200 (SP200) is an annual list of the 200 most powerful people in residential real estate in northern America (United States and Canada). The list is described as the most comprehensive list of influential CEOs, thought leaders and senior executives ever assembled in the residential real estate brokerage business. The prestigious list stands as a milestone analysis of the multidisciplinary real estate industry and released in print (52 pages) and online at www.sp200.com.
History
Trends analyst and editor-in-chief of the SP200 Stefan Swanepoel is a New York Times best selling author and business executive. He has penned more than 25 books and reports. His books have been listed on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Swanepoel is widely acknowledged as the leading researcher on real estate trends and is author of the annual Swanepoel Trends Report that has been published annually since 2006. It is this 30,000-foot purview and 20-year research of real estate trends that brings the depth and breadth to this groundbreaking list. The executive editor on the SP200 is Rob Hahn.
Categories
Six categories list the 20 most powerful people. Those recognized fall in one of following categories:
- Franchisors
- Brokers
- Technologists
- Trade Executives
- Economists and Advisors
- Educators
- Media Executives
The top women are also listed a second time in a special category ranking the top 20 women. There is a category for highly influential Social Media Networkers although none of them officially rank in the top 200. There is also a category named Outsiders that includes numerous outstanding individuals who have, through investments, the executive position they hold within a company or the appointment or election to office, had or continue to have a meaningful and noteworthy impact on the residential real estate brokerage industry. The list include:
- Janet Yellen - Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Shaun Donovan – Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Richard Cordray – Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Carol Galante - Commissioner for the Federal Housing Administration
Rankings for 2013
1. Richard A. Smith, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), was named as the Most Powerful Person in Residential Real Estate Brokerage for 2013. A few years ago Realogy was groaning under a massive burden of debt incurred as part of Cendant’s corporate restructuring. Then the real estate market tanked and many in the real estate industry as well as on Wall Street simply wrote off Realogy. With rigorous and painful cost-[...] measures, deft renegotiation of its debts, and a hundred other large and small moves, Realogy slowly climbed back from the brink. In October 2012 Smith led Realogy to the second largest initial public offerings of the year behind Facebook. Realogy owns half of the top 10 brands in the industry: Coldwell Banker, Century 21 Real Estate, Sotheby’s International Realty, ERA and Better Homes and Gardens Realty. With approximately 13,600 franchised and company-owned offices and over 240,000 brokers and agents worldwide, Realogy touches one out of every four home sales in America.
2. Ranked second Most Powerful Person in Real Estate is Ron J. Peltier, the man atop the HomeServices of America (a Berkshire Hathaway company) conglomerate. According to the Forbes Global 2000 list and formula Berkshire Hathaway is the ninth largest public company in the world. During the last 15 months, HomeServices of America orchestrated the biggest acquisition in the industry in recent times, grabbing two top 10 franchise networks at the same time—Prudential and Real Living. This led to a dazzling rebranding plan and the launch of a significant national new brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Peltier has been the Chief Executive Officer of HomeServices of America Inc. since its inception in July 1999 and now also serves as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
3. Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow (NASDAQ: Z), one of the 1,000 largest websites in the world and with over 50 million unique visits per month, also the largest real estate website in the world, was listed third on the SP200. Starting December 2013 Zillow now also powers the AOL Real Estate’s home search.
Selection criteria
The rankings are based on multiple criteria that take into account the individual’s personal influence, his/her tenure in the industry, the office he or she holds, the decision-making power of said office, the financial resources of the company or organization, the company or organization’s significance and contribution to the industry, the company’s geographic reach, and his or her recent activities, growth, and potential.