Keller Williams Realty Spokane is enjoying rapid growth in agents and overall performance, says Chase Williams, team leader at the Spokane franchise of the Austin, Texas-based global real estate network.

Last year, which was a strong year for the office, agents of the franchise completed 2,197 real estate transactions, mostly involving single-family homes.

This year, the agents are on pace to exceed that by 24 percent, Williams claims.

That would outperform the rate of sales growth for the total Spokane County market, which saw a 4.4percent increase in homes sold in the first five months of the year, according to the Spokane Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

“The trend is steepening based on contracts we’re writing,” Williams says. “We’re on pace to close over a half-billion dollars in real estate out of this office.”

Keller Williams Realty Spokane moved last September to its current location in the Inland Imaging complex at 799 S. Stevens from smaller quarters at 802 N. Washington, where some agents had set up their offices in basement space.

The agency occupies 19,000 square feet of office space on three above-grade floors at the Stevens Street location.

“We got agents out of the basement, and they’re thrilled with that,” Williams says.

Keller Williams Spokane has added 60 agents this year, which alone is more agents than the average residential real estate brokerage has in Spokane.

In all, Keller Williams Spokane had 207 agents as of last week, making it the largest residential brokerage by agent count in Spokane, Williams asserts.

At the corporate level, Keller Williams Realty Inc. claims to be the largest franchise real estate company in the world by agent count.

Williams, a former California real estate broker, has been a part of the Keller Williams Spokane management team since 2014.

He’s no relation to Keller Williams corporate cofounder Joe Williams.

Bruce Hardie, who owns the Keller Williams Spokane franchise, says the company has grown phenomenally to 144,000 agents corporatewide, up from 5,500 agents when the Australian former restaurateur opened the franchise here in 2000.

Hardie also owns a Keller Williams franchise in Anchorage. 

He’s also the regional director for Keller Williams, overseeing 29 offices with a total of 5,700 agents in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska.

Despite Keller Williams’ corporate success, the red-lettered “kw” logo isn’t really the face of the brand, Hardie says.

“Our agents are the brand,” he says.

Williams says National Association of Realtors research shows 96 percent of people buying or selling homes choose Realtors for reasons other than their associations with specific brokerages.

Agents are independent contractors, Williams says. “They could go anywhere they choose.”

Keller Williams strives at both the franchise and corporate levels to provide agents with tools and training to succeed.

The office here is set up to encourage collaboration, and the walls in classroom spaces, meeting rooms, and even stairwells are painted with inspirational quotes from athletes, academics, businesspeople, politicians, and movies.

Williams adds that Keller Williams provides training beyond that needed for selling houses. “It’s training on being a business owner,” he says.

It’s common for agents at other brokerages to feel they’re run by their brokerage rather than running their own business, he contends, adding, “Our model runs the other way.”

Each Keller Williams agent has a customized mobile app and a fully functional website they can share with their clients.

Agents also are encouraged to develop their own brands as individuals or teams.

Such brands within Keller Williams Spokane include The Legacy Group LLC., 509 Properties LLC, and The Hardie Group Inc.

Claudia Restrepo, who owns The Legacy Group, recently was recognized by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals as the top Latino agent in the U.S. based on number of closed sales.

The Legacy Group is comprised of a 16-member team that last year closed 443 transactions totaling $74 million in sales.

Hardie says the profit-sharing franchise involves agents in decisions that affect them.

In May, Keller Williams Spokane shared $20,000 in profits with agents on top of $1.6 million the agents earned in gross commission income.

The gross commission income for May was 32 percent higher than the year-earlier month.

Hardie claims Keller Williams agents retain a higher percentage of commissions than agents working under the traditional agent/brokerage arrangement.

The Spokane Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service reported 2,044 active listings for single family homes in Spokane County as of June 1, which the trade group characterized as a three-month supply of inventory.

When inventory is below five months, it’s considered a seller’s market, Hardie says. Homes here have been selling for an average of 98.4 percent of listing prices over the last six months.

Homes sold through the MLS in the first five months of the year had a median selling price of $189,900, up nearly 12 percent compared with the year-earlier period.

Looking ahead, Hardie says some industry experts are predicting the market could peak in 18 to 24 months.

For now, though, the recent Brexit vote has helped keep mortgage interest rates on the floor, which could help maintain strong home sales here, Hardie says.

“When there’s unrest in the stock market, people go to bonds,” he says, further explaining that the increase in demand for bonds puts downward pressure on yields, and trends in mortgage rates follow bond yields.

Williams says recent rates for 30-year mortgages are as low as 3.5 percent.

“You can’t find a better rate,” he says.