eXp World Holdings, Inc., the holding company for eXp Realty, released its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results, revealing a story of skyrocketing growth and enormous gains. Annual revenue in 2021 for the company reached $3.8 billion, a 110% increase over the previous year. Fourth quarter revenue also saw advances of 77% over the same period in 2020 to reach $1.1 billion. Gross profit during the fourth quarter totaled $83.1 million, a 65% increase over the previous year’s quarter, and $296 million for the full year.
“2021 was another year of tremendous growth for eXp, as our core focus on innovation enabled us to welcome nearly 30,000 new agents across six continents to eXp,” said Glenn Sanford, Founder, Chairman and CEO of eXp World Holdings. “As real estate professionals increasingly turn to technology-based solutions for productivity and collaboration, our cloud-based platform has given us a first-mover advantage to scale our brokerage at the fastest rate in the industry. We attract top agents that value freedom, compensation and community.”
Agents and brokers on the platform increased dramatically during 2021, ending the year with 71,137 agents, a 72% increase over 2020. Real estate transactions closed were up 86% from the previous year and real estate transaction volume increased 116% to $156.1 billion in 2021.
On a year-over-year basis, earnings per diluted share increased 143% to $0.51 and adjusted EBITDA grew 35% to $78 million. The fourth quarter was plagued with a $10 million one-time legal settlement, but when excluding that, adjusted EBITDA actually increased 52% to $88 million in 2021 and 39% to $23.1 million during the fourth quarter.
“In 2021, we achieved a record $3.8 billion in revenue by focusing on our growing, global community of real estate agents,” said Jeff Whiteside, CFO and Chief Collaboration Officer of eXp World Holdings. “Our year-over-year increase in transaction volume proves that the eXp model is resonating with top-producing agents and our ability to maintain this momentum underscores the strength of our competitive position. Reinvesting incremental cash flows generated by our business in products, services and technologies that further enhances the eXp platform for agents remains a priority as we scale, both within our existing markets and globally.”
The company’s balance sheet at the end of 2021 revealed $108.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $100.1 million in 2020.