About 200 Crye-Leike agents from across the Greater Chattanooga area this week gathered at the elegant Chattanooga Golf and Country Club to celebrate the best sales Crye-Leike has seen in five years.
With the real estate market improving each month throughout 2012, Crye-Leike finished the year strong with $4.5 billion in sales, with agents companywide working hard to sell 28,065 properties.
“For the few years prior to 2012, Crye-Leike had been holding steady along the 3 billion in sales mark, and we couldn’t meet our goal to break through and achieve 4 billion in sales,” said Crye-Leike Co-founder and CEO Harold Crye. “In 2012, we were pleased to far surpass the goals we set for the year, with companywide sales up nearly $700 million ahead of 2011 figures.”
Crye added, “We were happy to celebrate with our agents the best year in sales for the company since 2007, when we saw $5.7 billion in sales, and since 2008, when we saw $4.2 billion in sales.”
Chattanooga Crye-Leike agents in 2012 achieved $404 million in sales, selling 2,703 properties. The region was up in sales 28 percent over 2012.
During the annual “Kickoff,” Crye offered wisdom about current market conditions, congratulated agents on their sales successes of 2012, and offered his predictions for the housing industry in 2013.
“Many of our Realtors have been telling me how good their business is, and all of our offices are seeing an increase in calls and sales,” he said. “In 2012, the real estate market really began to gleam with excitement again, and it seems that the market has truly come out of the pits. The market and our Realtors have a strong momentum going again, and there’s really no doubt in my mind that 2013 will be an even better year.”
In the crystal ball segment of the program, Crye offered his predictions for the 2013 housing market. He believes the low inventory of homes for sale will continue causing price appreciation and multiple offers on homes. Crye also expects new home construction and consumer confidence will continue to rise and REO bank-owned sales and foreclosures will continue to decline.
Crye-Leike is also expecting sales to increase again in 2013, and the company has set a goal to achieve $5 billion in sales this year, with high hopes for selling 30,000 properties. Crye believes these goals can be reached if the agents continue to possess the positive attitude and strong work ethic they used to be successful in 2012.
“We’re pleased to see the smiles on our Realtor’s faces as we’ve heard from them about market improvements and business picking up in 2012. We’re also happy to see home sales and prices moving in the right direction, and expect many great things to happen in the real estate industry during 2013 as the market continues to bounce back,” said Crye.
According to recent reports released by the National Association of Realtors, the real estate market is recovering and greatly improving. The association reported that the total sales of existing homes in 2012 reached the highest level in five years, while the annual gain in prices was the biggest in eight years.
“We thank our agents for hanging on in a tough real estate market the past few years, and we wish for them to have a wonderful 2013 filled with sales success,” said Crye. “We also thank all of our agents for the terrific job they do of caring for our customers.”
Crye added, “Crye-Leike encourages everyone to continue believing in their dream of homeownership and the power of homeownership. The market is improving and prices are on the rise. We expect the momentum the real estate market saw in 2012 to continue rolling throughout 2013.”
Source: Crye-Leike