What do you get when you combine two of the largest real estate agent associations in the country?
The Miami and South Florida Realtors.
That will be the name of the new group formed in May when the Miami Association of Realtors merges with the Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors organization.
The two announced their plans to join forces under one umbrella, and with an accelerated closing date — May 11.
" It's actually a time to get rid of boundaries, get rid of limits, and to make sure that our members have the best of all of the products, tools, services and education that's available," said the Miami association's CEO Teresa King Kinney in an interview with WLRN.
READ MORE: Palm Beach County is the hot spot for home, condo sales in South Florida
She will serve as co-CEO of the newly combined group along with Dionna Hall, CEO of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors. Kinney will retire down at the end of the year and Hall will become the sole CEO at that time.
"We've been working together side by side in this market for many years, and our members cross over all of the county lines and work together.," Kinney said. "It's challenging for them when there are two different associations and two different sets of MLS (Multiple Listing Service) rules. Some have some products and some have other products."
Together, the two associations reported a combined $27 million in revenue in 2024, according to its IRS 990 tax filings required of non-profit organizations. They reported a total of $52.5 million in assets at the end of 2024. The Miami group accounted for about two-thirds of the combined totals.
Still, the leaders of the organizations were reluctant to call it an acquisition of one group by the other.
" There's no way that there's an acquisition of anyone, We are equals," Kinney said. "It's all a matter of respect. We all do business in the same marketplace."
Kinney's 2024 reported compensation was about twice that of Hall's. The Miami association paid Kinney about $908,000. Hall's reported compensation that same year was $566,000, according to tax filings.
Realtor associations run the main database of properties for sale in a region, known as the Multiple Listing Service. They also enact professional standard rules, provide training and lobby regulators.
It is not clear yet how the merger may affect member fees. Hall said the new group does not expect to make changes.
"We expect there's going to be economies of scale through different products and services," she said. "Obviously our negotiating power is going to increase."
The South Florida home market has been improving, though condo sales remain fragile in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The median price of a condo sold in Broward County has been falling for at least a year. They are down in five of the last six months in Miami-Dade. Palm Beach County properties have been the bright spot with prices and sales activity picking up.
The merger, Hall said, will give buyers and sellers "unfettered access" to market information. " The consumers are really going to be able to have a fuller picture of everything that they want and need in order to make the decision," she said.
The merger comes about two years after a major federal court settlement with the National Association of Realtors upturned long-held industry practices of how some agents got paid. The agreement with federal prosecutors banned disclosing the commission for buyers' agents on the Multiple Listing Service, the clearinghouse database that includes most homes and condos for sale.
At the time, realtor groups insisted that buyers' agents' commissions have always been negotiable.
A report this month from the Consumer Federation of America found real estate commissions have not changed since the settlement, but sellers "now cover buyer's agent commissions much less frequently."
Hall said since the MLS no longer tracks agent commissions " it's not information that we have available."
The new group will have 93,000 members, larger than most state realtor associations.
As for the name, Kinney said "Miami is the brand. South Florida is who we are."
Hall, whose organizations will lose their geographic references in the new organization's title, called the Miami name "common sense decision making."
