By Nicole Friedman and Lauren Thomas

Compass is in advanced talks to acquire Warren Buffett's real-estate brokerage business, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of consolidation among real-estate brokerages during a prolonged period of lackluster home sales.

A deal could come together soon, if talks don't hit any last-minute snags, the people said. The acquisition price couldn't be determined.

Compass was the biggest U.S. brokerage by volume in 2023, while HomeServices was the fourth-biggest, according to RealTrends.

Berkshire Hathaway's HomeServices of America had about 820 brokerage offices and 270 franchisees in 2024, and its brand names include Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Real Living. It had about 5,400 employees last year, according to Berkshire's annual report.

Real-estate agents are typically not employees but work as independent contractors and can easily switch brokers.

Berkshire, the conglomerate run by Buffett, rarely sells its operating companies. But real-estate brokerages have struggled in recent years as high home prices and elevated mortgage rates have slowed the market. Home sales in 2024 fell to the lowest level since 1995 for the second straight year.

Large brokerages have also agreed to pay hundreds of millions to settle legal claims that the industry conspired to keep agent commissions high. New commission rules established last year could lead more buyers to forgo using agents, another potential blow to the industry.

HomeServices was one of four major brokerage firms found liable in an industry antitrust case in 2023. The company reached a settlement last year for $250 million.

Berkshire has owned the real-estate brokerage business since 2000, when the company purchased an Iowa utility that already owned HomeServices. HomeServices is still a subsidiary of Berkshire's energy business, now called Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Any deal would be a decent size bite for Compass, which had a market value of about $5 billion as of Thursday.

Compass last year announced a deal to buy Christie's International Real Estate and @properties, the eighth-biggest brokerage by volume. Chief Executive Robert Reffkin founded the company in 2012 after stints with McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. He expanded Compass quickly over the years through a series of acquisitions, giving it presence across much of the U.S.

HomeServices posted a $107 million loss last year, mostly due to charges related to the litigation, according to Berkshire's annual report.

Berkshire sold its newspaper business in 2020 and a workers' compensation insurer in 2019.

Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com and Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2025 16:29 ET (20:29 GMT)

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