The exhaustive annual survey is based upon 2013 worldwide sales and growth and includes franchisors from a wide variety of business sectors.
In the 2014 Franchise Times Top 200, RE/MAX ranked 12th overall while the closest real estate franchises were ranked 28th and 45th. In addition, RE/MAX gained two places over its standing in 2013 and also ranked second in the "Top 10 Sales Growth" category. Overall, four of the top five spots in the rankings were claimed by fast food franchises, including McDonald's, KFC, SUBWAY and Burger King.
"Our philosophy at RE/MAX has always been very simple," said Margaret Kelly, RE/MAX International CEO. "Attract new franchisees by providing support services and competitive advantages that help them succeed. It's why we continue to grow, innovate and evolve."
On the eve of celebrating 20 years of success in South African real estate, Peter Gilmour, Chairman of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, said: "RE/MAX has built its success on attracting entrepreneurial franchisees who have in turn attracted experienced, productive sales associates who deliver a high level of service to their customers and clients. This has resulted in RE/MAX becoming the largest real estate company in South Africa in a relatively short period of time."
Internationally, RE/MAX added franchises in 11 new countries in 2013 and the RE/MAX balloon is now seen in 96 countries worldwide. RE/MAX of Southern Africa is represented in 10 African countries.
For the second consecutive year, RE/MAX was also the highest-ranked real estate brokerage in Entrepreneur magazine's 2014 Franchise 500. It was named on Entrepreneur's "fastest-growing" and "low-cost" franchise lists, and received the highest global ranking among real estate brokerage franchises.
Gilmour noted that 2014 has been a record year of growth for RE/MAX in Southern Africa due to its strong leadership and exceptional value proposition for entrepreneurial estate agents who have built their real estate businesses under the RE/MAX banner.
"RE/MAX franchisees have access to extensive local and international training from RE/MAX Global Learning Centre, as well as many technological tools and resources, such as the Referral Maker CRM programme and the online customisable marketing toolkit, Design Centre. According to Alexa, a global analytics expert, our local RE/MAX website is the most visited real estate company website in the country. It is benefits such as these that have enabled our passionate and professional network of real estate professionals to perform well above industry norms, despite the challenging economic climate and housing market over the past few years," Gilmour concluded.
