As Open Real Estate makes headlines around the future of listing flow and control, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin addressed the initiative in the company’s third quarter earnings call, saying Compass “welcome(s) this change.”
Reffkin said that Open Real Estate’s plan “actually validates” Compass’s messaging over recent years, and he is “excited to see the four of them lead in this way and just see others join.”
In terms of whether or not Compass itself would join the initiative, Reffkin said “there’s definitely a path.”
“Compass International Holdings is definitely excited that there will be a national real estate listing service that will return the power back to the creator of the listing, the homeowner and their trusted agent, and that is good news for all agents and for all their clients, and we’re looking forward to seeing if there’s a way for us to be involved,” he continued.
The numbers
Compass reported a “record” quarter, beating out expectations it set for itself in Q2. Reffkin touted the firm’s success amid an array of market challenges, from increasing mortgage rates to decreasing home sales.
Compass’s adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $306 million for Q3 surpassed the company’s original expectations of $275 million to $305. While down from $363 million in Q2, EBITDA rose from $94 million in Q3 2025 to set a new Q3 record.
Other Q3 records for Compass include revenue, which came in at $3.9 billion for Q3. While this marks a dip from last quarter’s $4.31 billion, it represents a whopping 111% year-over-year increase from $1.85 billion in Q3 2025. Pro forma revenue was up 11.6% year-over-year from $3.49 billion.
Net income was also at a record Q3 level, coming in at $62 million. While down from $92 million in Q2, the increase is significant compared to the $4 million net loss year over year. The company has now been net income positive for three consecutive quarters.
Much of the quarter’s success was attributed to improvements in Compass’s operating expenses (OPEX), which were down 6% year-over-year. Free cash flow was also improved at $240 million in Q3, which the company noted was a record for any quarter or year in its history.
CFO Scott Wahlers said that bettering the company’s OPEX came from “just good old-fashioned tightening our belt” in a market that is experiencing challenges from “worse than normal seasonality.”
Breaking down the businesses
Looking at the brokerage business, gross transaction volume for Coldwell Banker, Compass, Corcoran and Sotheby’s International Realty came in at $138.9 billion, down from $155.2 billion in Q2 but up 96.5% year-over-year from $70.7 billion in Q3 2025. Pro forma, transaction volume was up 7.5% year-over-year to $133.1 billion.
Brokerage transactions were up 106.4% year-over-year, from 67,887 in Q3 2025 to 140,118 this quarter. Pro forma, transactions were actually down 0.3% year-over-year, but this is compared to a 1.8% decrease across the entirety of the U.S. residential real estate market (as sourced from NAR’s existing home sales data).
For franchise business, gross transaction volume was at $108.9 billion, a 1,181% year-over-year increase from $8.5 billion in Q3 2025. Pro forma, transaction volume was up 2.3% year-over-year to $104.2 billion. Franchise transactions were up a whopping 2,073% year-over-year, from 8,825 in Q3 2025 to 191,809 this quarter. Pro forma, transactions actually decreased 3.6% year-over-year.
Reffkin also called out some business that will be coming in from Wall Street due to bonuses from working with and investing in AI.
“(Wall Street) will have record bonuses coming in the months ahead, and that will lead to more transactions,” he said. “There are a number of partners on Wall Street who have asked me for an introduction to our agents, and I have made those introductions.”
The mortgage business improved as well, credited to Compass’s acquisitions. Total mortgage transactions were up 406% year-over-year to 38,757 (up from 7,666 in Q3 2025). This was also up pro forma by 1.7% year-over-year. Loan volume was $3.30 billion, up 9.9% year-over-year on a pro forma basis.
Compass just recently inked a deal with fintech company Rate to unite the two companies’ mortgage ventures—Guaranteed Rate Affinity and OriginPoint—under the OriginPoint brand.
The merger shifts OriginPoint up to a top 10 mortgage lender, which Reffin said is “incredible after such a short amount of time.”
“Longer term, we want to be a top five retail lender,” he added.
Agent retention and recruiting also improved for Compass due to what the company and Reffkin outlined as a strong value prop and industry positioning. For agents producing more than $20,000 in gross commission income, retention is above 98%.
Recruiting-wise, brokerage agents specifically increased by 2,292 in Q3, and total agent count grew by 6,390.
Reffkin also attributed Compass’ Q3 success to the rollout of its “Home” platform, an end-to-end proprietary technology for real estate professionals.
Across Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sotheby’s International Realty, Compass stated it saw 33,950 agents adopt the available platform, bringing the total number of users across the full company to 68,349 agents. The plan remains to roll out the platform to the full portfolio of Compass brands in Q1 2027.
Through the platform, all participating agents will have access to the company’s Private Exclusive and Coming Soon inventory.
In talking about Compass’s platform, Reffkin dove into the company’s “See It First” campaign, calling it “part of a rebranding exercise.”
“I think some of our competitors have tried to brand the listings that we have as hidden, clearly,” he explained. “All of our listings are available to all agents and to all buyers, and when you call them See It First, then it’s pretty clear we just want you to see it first on our site, which is a natural thing for a company to want to be able to do.”
Looking ahead
Reffkin reported that the company will take a conservative approach in the months ahead as the market continues to be challenged.
“There are reasons to be optimistic, but obviously we’re not planning for that,” he said. “We continue to focus on costs and plan for being conservative. But I think what can help in our favor (is) one, we have more inventory right now than any point since…2019. ..More inventory means you can create more sales.”
When asked about future merger-and-acquisition opportunities, Reffkin indicated the door is open.
“We continue to be a company that wants to support great operators and continue to have those conversations.”
Compass stated it expects a Q4 revenue of $3.150 billion to $3.350 billion, and a Q4 adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $130 million. For the full year of 2026, the company stated it expects free cash flow to be positive, and OPEX of $2.71 billion to $2.73 billion.
Maria Patterson contributed to this report.
