Two Major Atlanta Real Estate Firms Merge - Jenny Pruitt & Harry Norman. This is a major event for the Atlanta real estate market. Harry Norman Realtors which is one of the oldest and most respected real estate firms in the Atlanta real estate market since the 1930's has just merged with Jenny Pruitt another well respected real estate firm in Atlanta for many years. In recent years during the market upswing, each company was acquired by Birkshire Hathaway - a Warren Buffett company. These two companies were run totally as separate operations until this week. In the last year there have been some consolidations of office locations in the Atlanta area for some of the Harry Norman offices. I am sure this is a consolidation of sorts also. One would assume it is a measure based upon conserving resources by eliminating duplicities of management, accounting, IT, relocation etc. I'm sure they will have a seamless integration of both companies. This is reflective of the severity of the Atlanta and national real estate downturn.
In the not so distant past, we also lost some other major real estate players in the Atlanta real estate market landscape. The news articles report that each company will retain its brand lable. It wil be interesting to see how it all pans out. Years ago we had a similar aquisition of Northside Realty and Buckhead brokers. They were absorbed into Coldwell Banker and then their names and identities quickly faded from our town. I personally believe this is just the beginning of a long drawn out correction in the Atlanta and national real estate industry.
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Jim - I hadn't heard about this yet. It's sad to "lose" an old and respected firm, but it's happening all over the country.
Around here we saw a major merger earlier in the year. They said nothing would change (yeah right), but after letting the landscape settle out for a few months they announced this week they're closing 2 of 3 offices here in our area and consolodating everyone into one office, and thinning out staff. It's really shaking things up.
Sharon Simms St Pete Florida CRS CIPS CLHMS (RE/MAX Metro) I agree. Before the end of the year, there are going to be many more closures, consolidations in the industry. There is not enough work to pay the bills.
Erica Ramus - Realty Executives Schuylkill - 570.622.6006 Several companies in Atlanta that had multiple offices have consolidated to 1 office. Pandimonium is the rule these days.
In our area we have way too many agents. We normally see 1100 deals a year and there are like 250+ agents. I thought many more would NOT renew when we had our last cycle (May 31). I am surprised by the numbers that are holding on. I think end of year will see a big drop in our ranks as annual bills come due in Dec/Jan.
Erica Ramus - Realty Executives Schuylkill - 570.622.6006 They are still holding on in Atlanta. When in the late 1990's when we had 3700 sales a month, there were 8500 agents in Atlanta. Today, we have 3700 sales a month and we have 40,000 agents. There has to be a collapse in the numbers of agents. The math does not work at all.