Keller Williams Expands to Germany

2023 marks 10 successive years of aggressive international growth

AUSTIN, TEXAS February 16, 2023 — Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, announces continued robust worldwide growth and expansion into Germany. 

“In 2013, we first set forth with our vision to expand outside of the U.S. and Canada,” said Gary Keller, executive chairman, KW. “And today, we’re excited to report the demand is only growing increasingly stronger for our agent-centric culture, models, systems, training and technology.” 

As of Jan. 31, Keller Williams Worldwide (KWW), the international division of KW, has more than 18,000 agents outside U.S. and Canada, up 20.5 percent from the end of January 2021.

KWW Momentum (holistic production outside U.S. and Canada YE ‘22)

Agents closed 77.8 thousand transactions in 2022, up 22.5% over YE ‘21. Agents closed $15.7 billion in sales volume in 2022, up 29.3% from YE ‘21. Agents took 113.6 thousand new listings (new market inventory) in 2022, up 5.4% over YE ‘21. Agents wrote 88.7 thousand contracts (projected closings) in 2022, up 18.9% over YE ‘21. Contracts written volume was $12.8 billion in 2022, up 17.3% over YE ‘21.

“Ten years since the launch of KWW, our continued rapid pace of multinational growth showcases how entrepreneurs globally are thriving at Keller Williams,” said William E. Soteroff, president of KWW. “And, today we’re excited to announce our expansion into Germany, our 18th master franchise in Europe.”

Led by Regional Operating Principal Swen Nicolaus, KW Germany is currently initializing operations. 

For more than 20 years, Nicolaus has held leadership positions in real estate and finance. He recently served as the chief capital officer of Molo Finance, a digital mortgage bank. He also held management roles at J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Funding Circle, a small business lending platform. 

“With Swen, we have found an ideal partner who will implement our proven systems and models, world-class training and the robust benefits of Command—our smart, multilingual CRM-plus solution to grow real estate businesses across Germany,” said Soteroff.

In Q2 ‘23, KW Germany is expected to open its first market center. And, the brand has an initial focus of opening locations across the top seven real estate markets of Germany.

“We are delighted to be able to bring the most successful broker platform in the world to Europe’s most successful and largest economy,” said Nicolaus. “With Keller Williams, the spotlight is always on the entrepreneurial realtor.”

As of Jan. 31, KW has 160 market centers and 4,806 agents across Europe. The other 17 KW European master franchises are the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, France, Monaco, Poland, Greece, Czech Republic, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Albania and Switzerland.

KWW is currently exploring further expansion opportunities across Africa, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and throughout Asia.

Core criteria for new licensees starts with having a qualified leadership team grounded in the Keller Williams culture; the company also strives for government, banking and judicial system stability and a higher maturity level for a real estate market.

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, KWW’s regions include: Albania; Argentina; Aruba; Belgium; Belize; Bermuda; Bolivia; Bonaire; Cambodia; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Dominican Republic; Dubai, UAE; France; Germany; Greece; Guyana; Honduras; Indonesia; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Luxembourg; Malaysia; Mexico; Monaco; Mongolia; Nicaragua; Northern Cyprus; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Romania; São Paulo, Brazil; Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Sint Maarten; Slovenia; Southern Africa; Spain; Suriname; Switzerland; Thailand; Turkey; Turks and Caicos; United Kingdom; Uruguay; and Vietnam.

About Keller Williams

Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams, the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, has more than 1,100 offices and 200,000 associates. The franchise is also No. 1 in units and sales volume in the United States.

Since 1983, the company has cultivated an agent-centric, technology-driven and education-based culture that rewards agents as stakeholders. For more information, visit headquarters.kw.com.