Real Estate

COVER FEATURE: TOP 100 COMPANIESBig brokers ride sales waveBY SARA PULLAN GEIMER To view the main index page for this feature and its online exclusives, click here. Does it get any better than this? Even as the country was riding out a recession, sales of existing single-family homes set a new record of 5.25 million in 2001, up 2.7 percent from 2000, and edging past the previous record of 5.21 million set in 1999.The country’s biggest residential brokerages are benefiting from the continued health and stability of the real estate market, REALTOR® Magazine’s third annual “Top 100 Companies” survey shows.More than 70 percent of the Top 100 reported increases in their transaction sides from 2000 to 2001. Nearly 90 percent reported an increase in sales volume—a testament to enduring high appreciation rates in many parts of the country. Fully two-thirds of the 28 companies that closed fewer sides in 2001 increased their volume anyway.Scan the list and you’ll see that more than half of the c...