News Quiz: Do you know the biggest stories for the week of Jan. 16?
EXp Realty expanded, Better CEO Vishal Garg turned up in the news and Ryan Serhant, once again, found his way into the headlines.
The past seven days were a little less tumultuous than the week prior, when RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos announced his resignation and Realogy continued for a second-straight week to defend its position on commission sharing. But plenty happened, and we're here to suss out what's worth remembering and what you may well have forgotten.
Test your knowledge of the biggest real estate stories of the week.
EXp Realty on Thursday announced it would expand into this international market in the first quarter of 2022.
Dominican Republic
Greece
New Zealand
All of the above
All of the above. Virtual brokerage eXp Realty plans to expand into three new international markets — Dominican Republic, Greece and New Zealand — in the first quarter of 2022. Read the story here.
Thursday, January 20 marks what anniversary?
The one-year anniversary of Compass going public
Three years since the launch of Knock
Two years since the first case of COVID was recorded in the U.S.
One year since Josh Team resigned as president of Keller Williams
Two years since the first case of COVID was recorded in the U.S. The first case of SARS-CoV-2 in the U.S. was confirmed on Jan. 20, 2020, in Snohomish County, Washington. It would begin its invisible spread into homes across the planet. Read the story here.
Better CEO Vishal Garg made headlines this week after he did what?
Awarded bonuses to several hundred employees
Returned to his perch as CEO after a brief hiatus
Resigned following a second viral video
Got married in New Zealand
Returned to his perch as CEO after a brief hiatus. Better founder and CEO Vishal Garg, who went viral after firing 900 employees on a Zoom call, has reportedly returned to his post at the company after a brief leave of absence. Read the story here.
Buyers viewed a record low number of homes before buying in 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors. What was the median number of homes buyers saw?
8
6
2
4
8. Homebuyers who purchased a home last year viewed a median of eight homes before buying — the lowest number since the National Association of Realtors started tracking the metric in 1987, according to the trade group. Read the story here.
“WeCrashed” — the Apple TV miniseries inspired by the rise and fall of WeWork and CEO Adam Neumann — released its first trailer Wednesday ahead of its March 18 premiere. Who plays Neumann in the miniseries.
Orlando Bloom
Jared Leto
Tom Cruise
Bela Lugosi
Jared Leto. The series stars Jared Leto as Neumann, the eccentric Israeli entrepreneur who sought to redefine commercial real estate but resigned from the company he founded in 2019. Read the story here.
A Manhattan townhouse with tenuous ties to this notable figure sold for $25 million this week.
Ian Fleming
Sal Mineo
Donald Trump
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly. A Manhattan townhouse marketed as having ties to Hollywood actress and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly has sold for $25 million following years of controversy. Read the story here.
Ryan Serhant’s eponymous brokerage, SERHANT., announced it had hired away two teams from this rival real estate brokerage.
EXp Realty
Corcoran
Compass
None of the above
Compass. The Bogard New York Team and The Palanca Team, previously of Compass, have made the switch to SERHANT., Ryan Serhant’s eponymous brokerage announced Tuesday. Read the story here.
CoreLogic acquired this company earlier this week after a long partnership.
T3-Sixty
Prospects Software
CoStar Group
Move-Core
Prospects Software. Six months after being purchased itself, real estate data and analytics giant CoreLogic has acquired real estate tech firm Prospects Software, CoreLogic announced Tuesday. Read the story here.
A property in San Francisco, described as “the worst house on the best block,” sold for $1.97 million after sparking a bidding war — despite having none of these.
Toilets
Closets
Bedrooms
Windows
Bedrooms. A rickety abandoned home in San Francisco with no bedrooms fetched a stunning $1.97 million and even spurred a bidding war over the decrepit property. Read the story here.
In 2021, how many existing homes traded hands?
5.35 million units
8.12 million units
9 million units
None of the above
None of the above. In a year of sky-high demand, existing-home sales recorded a banner year with the sale of 6.12 million units. Read the story here.