AI seems to be the focus of many earnings calls these days; at The Real Brokerage, it was the voice.
Tamir Poleg, chairman and CEO of The Real Brokerage, took the backseat during the first quarter earnings call as Real’s Leo Copilot—an AI-powered agent assistant—took over, speaking for Poleg, in his voice, reading his prepared remarks.
“That’s not a gimmick. It’s a reflection of how far we’ve come and a hint of where we’re going,” Poleg/Leo said. He claimed that his own mother could not tell the difference between his voice and Leo’s rendition of it.
Leo AI
Besides leading earnings calls, “Leo” handles thousands of agent interactions daily across mobile and voice, continuously learning from those interactions to deliver faster, more accurate and personalized assistance, said Poleg.
The questions Leo is answering typically involve compliance, tech-related issues and things agents need to operate on the platform.
“What we are now building and started testing is all of those things that Leo can assist with agents and their clients—so everything that is consumer-facing, this is still not rolled out,” Poleg added.
Poleg shared that the company is planning on testing out Leo’s real-time voice capabilities with its agents in the coming weeks. Later this month, Leo’s agent-support phone line will change to Poleg’s voice.
Through tests, Real claims Leo can now have conversations, answering questions like:
- What is your desired property?
- What are you looking for?
- What’s your financial situation?
Leo can also schedule showings, according to Real.
“Moving forward, we will continue to expand Leo’s capabilities with supporting our agents internally and just saving us a lot of overhead and human capital when it comes to internal support,” Poleg said. “But, at the same time, I think that the biggest potential is equipping our agents with a phone number, where they can actually train their own AI to use their own voice and then take their clients’ phone calls and answer all of their questions.”
Clear Cooperation and MLS changes
The company also clarified its stance on private listings, amid a larger industry debate on the issue.
“As a top 10 brokerage, we have the scale to launch a massive exclusive listing network, if we believed it was in the best interest of agents and their clients,” said Sharran Srivatsaa, president of The Real Brokerage. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach in real estate. Our job is to empower agents and their clients with flexibility and not force them into any single playbook.”
Asked about the changes in the industry and the role of MLSs, Poleg said that Real will continue to keep the consumer in mind. When listings get more exposure, there will be better outcomes, he said.
“There’s been a lot of noise in the industry around the role of the MLS, and it’s true that the landscape is evolving. As one of the largest brokerages in the country, a lot of companies are involving us in their ideas or their initiatives and trying to kind of collaborate with us on that. But, at Real, our perspective is pretty simple,” he said. “Any change in how homes are listed and discovered should ultimately benefit the consumer. Some companies are approaching this through the lens of trying to gain a competitive advantage, but we’re focused on what delivers the best possible experience for buyers and sellers.”
“The skill-gap is real, and it’s growing.”
Underscoring the importance of agents’ skills, Srivatsaa said that agents won’t be replaced by AI and systems, but instead empowered by them.
“The skill of the agent is the most important variable. So, for context, in just the past 12 months, two foundational pillars of the real estate industry model—which are buyer agency and Clear Cooperation—have come under fire. On top of that, agents are navigating volatile macro conditions, evolving policies and rising interest rates,” he said. “The national data now clearly shows a widening gap in per-agent sales productivity. The skill gap is real, and it’s growing.”
To overcome this, Real is doubling down on skill-building with three focused delivery formats—“Master Class”-style training through Real Academy, high-impact regional road shows and “Mastermind Groups” led by top-producing agents.
Increase in agents
Agent count was up 61% year-over-year, with 26,870 agents at the end of this quarter. This growth is continuing with over 27,700 agents currently on the platform, added Poleg.
The company’s headcount efficiency ratio—defined as the number of full-time brokerage employees divided by the number of agents on the platform—was one to 88 at the end of the quarter, added Ravi Jani, CFO at The Real Brokerage.
“Notably, this is down from one to 136 at the end of 2024, and this is due to the fact that during the quarter, we transitioned 136 employees in India from contractor status to full-time employees, including 70 employees in our R&D organization,” he added.
Q1 2025 breakdown
Real ended the quarter with a “very strong balance sheet and net unrestricted cash and investments of approximately $35 million,” and “generated $16 million in operating cash flow,” said Jani.
This year’s first quarter brought in a revenue of $354 million, up 76% from Q1 2024’s revenue of $200.7 million. This increased revenue was driven by a 77% increase in closed transactions—33,617 this quarter compared to 19,032 the same time last year.
Gross profit reached $33.9 million, up 63% from $20.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Gross margin was 9.6%, down from 10.3% in the prior year.
“The year-over-year decline reflects the growing share of production from agents who have reached their annual commission cap for contracts at the end of Q1,” said Jani. “For context, at the end of Q1, approximately 12% of our agent base had capped, up from 8% a year ago. These agents contributed roughly 50% total commission revenue in the quarter, compared to 40% in Q1 2024. As a reminder, once an agent caps, they stop paying the standard 15% split and instead pay a $285 per transaction fee, resulting in lower gross margin on those transactions.”
Operating expenses totaled $39.1 million, or 11.1% of Q1 revenue, compared to $36.5 million, or 18.2% of revenue in Q1 2024.
Net loss improved to $5 million compared to $16.1 million last year.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $8.3 million, up from $3.6 million during Q1 2024.
“We continue to operate with no debt and ample liquidity to support our growth, while maintaining flexibility to return capital to shareholders,” said Jani.
Although 2025 has started on a slow note, he added, with existing-home sale units down about 2% year-over-year, reflecting the ongoing affordability pressures that have weighed on the market.
“Our latest agent survey indicates a shift occurring, under the surface,” he said. “Buyers are gaining more leverage, and sellers are adjusting pricing expectations lower accordingly. Against this backdrop, Real agents delivered a 5% year-over-year increase in average transactions per agent.”